


Leap through reality

by Cairlinn



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:47:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 49,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27174035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cairlinn/pseuds/Cairlinn
Summary: What happens when someone from our time with knowledge of the show we know wakes up in the woods around the Mountain right at the time Anya and Clarke flee?
Relationships: Anya & Lexa (The 100)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: The following prologue contains a reference and description of self-harm and suicide.  
> For all of those who are sensitive to that topic, do not read or read only with caution. Basically, the death will cause the jump from our modern world into the alternate reality of the 100.

Prologue

It was late and dusk had fallen long ago, when Taylor finally returned to her apartment after another long shift in the emergency room. The kind and happy façade which had been plastered onto her features all day long, melted away immediately when the lock in the door opened with the familiar click of the keys.

Immediately, she felt her energy draining away and giving place to fatigue in her mind. Tiredly, she kicked off her shoes and the sweater she had worn changed into, needing much longer for this simple task than it should ever need. Gone was the false smile and the proud posture, replaced with a deep frown and a slouched posture.

She drudged into the apartment and let her bag drop onto the couch. She only huffed under her breath when the bag slipped from the couch and fell to the ground. She would deal with the mess tomorrow, knowing that the water bottle inside might have just broken, but not having enough energy left to care for the moment. She spent the next few minutes mutely staring out of the window and to the darkness of the night before she finally gathered enough energy to get up again.

Taylor trudged into the bathroom with slow steps, beginning to undress mechanically, before she finally could step into the shower. She did not wait for the water to turn hot though and just stood under the spray of almost icy water without even so much as a flinch. Now that the season outside was slowly but surely merging into winter, the temperature of the water had dropped several degrees.

Taylor stood under the water cascading down her body for a long while until the water actually turned so hot that is was nearly scalding her skin and only then did the pain register in her fogged mind. She reached out and adjusted the temperature of the water slightly so that it was still hot, but bearable before her legs gave away and she sunk to the floor of the shower with a sob falling from her lips.

Although Taylor had always seen a hot shower as a relaxing reward after a long day, but she could not enjoy it tonight. As she cried, the water from the shower washed away her tears too quickly to even sense them trickle down her cheeks.

The day had been hard, exceptionally so. Since she had completed her studies, the reality of the work as an emergency doctor had set in and she had been on a double-shift in the emergency room again and nothing in her studies could have ever prepared her for what happened today.

She did not know for how long she had just been sitting on the floor of the shower, falling deeper and deeper into the despair of her mind until, trying to process what had happened today, before Taylor finally forced herself up and went about washing her hair and body.

The bathroom had filled with humid air and her fingers had wrinkled strongly when Taylor finally stepped out of the shower, but she did not pay it any mind. Taking long and silent showers had turned into the only small luxury nowadays and she did not care one bit about how much water or energy she was wasting with it. Taylor wiped over the surface of the mirror and held her own gaze for a long silent moment.

Watery pale eyes stared back at her with an empty quality to them and she felt her chest constrict painfully. She honestly could not remember now if her eyes ever sparkled with life and joy, although she guessed that they had. At least her family had told her how happy and excited she had appeared about being able to finish her medical studies several years sooner than planned. But now they were dulled by a soul deep exhaustion, at times only glazed over with a sheen of tears.

Taylor shook her head roughly trying to force the images invading her mind again from them. She pulled the towel more closely around her body, before Taylor walked out of the bathroom, picking up her phone and checking it for messages. One missed call from her grandmother, three missed calls from her mother and a few messages from her best friend.

A sigh fell from her lips. Although she had estranged from her family in the last few months, they apparently wanted something from her now. Had she forgotten a birthday or something? Or could they somehow miraculously sense that something was wrong with her today? 

Her future and destiny had always been clear to her. Taylor had already known as a young girl that she would grow up to become a doctor and save other peoples life.

A fresh tear rolled down her cheek when she distinctly remembered herself being awarded for her excellent performances in medical school. Her professors had seen so much promise in her that Taylor had been allowed to work in the hospital even earlier than her fellow students and she had graduated not after six but after three years, becoming the youngest doctor ever known with the age of 22.

Her career had continued to accelerate from there and Taylor had quickly specialized as an emergency doctor. She hated to see people suffer and she wanted to save people. Her age had never played a role in her function as a doctor. She had of course been met with prejudice at several points, but she had always been able to proof the people who doubted her abilities wrong.

Last year, exactly one year ago actually, Taylor had been faced with the first death of a patient under her sole care. Although she mostly worked as an emergency doctor, Taylor also took the role as a surgeon, specialized on the removal of tumours.

The patient had been a thirty-year-old female cancer patient. The woman had needed surgery to remove a tumour from her breasts. She had undergone chemotherapy before and her body had been severely weakened as her cancer had been detected very late on. Taylor had already held the consultation with the woman and her worried husband, trying to sooth both of their worries.

It had not been Taylor’s first operation, but one of her bigger operations. Taylor had not been the one to do any pre-examination on the woman. So, she could not have known about the woman’s weak heart. There had been no complications during the operation, until the woman’s heart had suddenly stopped. Together with her team Taylor had tried for almost half an hour to resurrect her, but in the end all she could do was state the woman’s time of passing.

The talk she had to held with the woman’s husband had been one of the hardest tasks for her in the hospital afterwards and Taylor would forever remember his grief-stricken expression and how his voice had broken time and time again.

It had been hard for her to try and continue her work to the best of her abilities. Taylor’s senior colleagues had all told her that the first patient who died under their sole care would forever remain with them as well and she had pushed on. She had been offered therapy, but she had declined it, too proud to admit that she could barely cope anymore.

Taylor now went over into the kitchen, fetching a bottle of wine, already forgoing a glass and instead directly taking a huge sip from the bottle as the last few hours of today flashed back before her.

It had been a normal shift in the emergency room and her double shift had almost been over when Taylor had been called to the one room they had reserved for psychological emergencies. The file she had been given said that her patient was a 35-year-old male who had tried to commit suicide a few hours ago and been found.

Taylor had entered the room with a sympathetic expression on her features, hiding her own exhaustion, but her expression had frozen when her eyes had connected with her patient. She recognized him immediately and judging by the rage and deep hatred which took over the man’s expression, he recognized her as well on first glance. It had been the husband of the woman who had passed away a year ago during her surgery.

Taylor had tried to mask her surprise and put on a professional calm façade and approached the man with confident steps.

She had not been prepared for him to break out into a rage and sneering at her with a voice brimming with disgust “Oh, the perfect doctor, fate is indeed cruel. What?” he let out a humourless laugh and his eyes blazed with hatred “Go ahead gifted doctor! You are the reason my wife died! You killed her! Are you going to at least kill me too now?” he concluded in a mocking tone.

Taylor felt her eyes fill with a fresh bout of tears as she clearly remembered the deep hatred inside his eyes. She had been utterly speechless for long moments, standing in front of the man like a dear caught in the headlight, shook to the core.

Thankfully, a colleague of hers had heard what had just happened and took over the patient looking at her in sympathy for her. Taylor felt unable to even say a single word to the man and all she could do was practically flee from the room. She had hidden in one of the toilet stalls for the remaining hour of her shift, trying in vain to control her tears. The realisation of what the grief had done to this man had hit her soul-deep.

What sense was there to continue? Taylor felt that she did not deserve to continue her life when she had had a hand in the reason for the man to try and take his life.

Taylor already had finished a quarter of the wine bottle when she sank down at her desk, thinking of the implication of what she wanted to do now.

She knew that her family would be devasted, but she had disappointed them for a while now. Before, they had been very close, but Taylor had slowly but surely removed herself from their lives, being overwhelmed with the pressure at work and not having the energy to call them more than once a month.

Her hands did not shake when she retrieved a pack of tablets from a drawer of the desk. Without further thought and just a single glance to today’s date, Taylor swallowed down the first pill.

Although she never seriously had contemplated suicide before, it now had turned into her only option. She knew well that she had to take two more pills in the course of six hours for them to take effect. She would not risk a failed attempt and she had prepared herself well for this. 

_“Six hours left”_ Taylor thought with a slight frown. She had always been impatient and hated waiting with a passion. She had expected to feel something negative with the realisation of what she had just done. But weirdly, she did not feel afraid or anything, instead her mind was finally peacefully calm for once.

Taylor spent a few minutes thinking about how she now wanted to spend her last six hours of life. She distinctly wonders how the man had spent his last day before his attempt, but she had to down another large gulp of wine to force this thought from her mind.

In the end, Taylor spent the last six hours of her life listening to her favourite music and slowly drinking the rest of the wine bottle, taking other pills as well, just to be sure.

She also wrote a goodbye note.

It said: “I am sorry that it has come to this. I have always thought that I understood the emotional burden of being responsible for another life as a doctor and I thought that I could take it. I know that it was not really my fault that his wife died last year during the operation. Her body had just been too weakened by her cancer and her heart had stopped. She had died of cardiac arrest and not because of an error I did. But after today and seeing how her husband is still suffering because of her death and how he had blamed me personally only causes the wounds from the past to reopen. I am blaming myself again as well now and my conscience just cannot take it anymore. There is no other option…”.

When her time was almost up, Taylor prepared herself a bath, filled to the brim with sweet smelling water and dressed into a bikini. Taylor did not wonder why she thought it important not to be naked when she is found. She also had pinned a piece of paper to the bathroom door, cautioning whoever found her to not enter and call the police instead. She knew that no one will even think to search for her long before it would be too late. It was Friday night now and the earliest she would really be missed would be Monday morning when she would not show up to her first shift at the emergency room.

Taylor retrieved the container with the poisonous salt out of her closet. She knew that she should have destroyed it, but she was immensely glad to have it now. She dissolved a huge amount of the salt in a glass of water, not even bothering to scale it.

“ _What should happen? Overdosed on poison?”_ she thought almost sarcastically as she downed the whole glass in one go, too quickly for the horrid taste to penetrate her sluggish mind. She knew that the pills, she took will prevent her from vomiting it all up before it can take effect. She had done her research and she knew that it would be over quickly now.

Taylor finally retrieved a razor blade and took it with her into the tube as she sat down in the gently steaming water a few moments later. She toyed with it in her slender fingers which were not shaking for once. She guessed that adding blood loss could certainly only make this safer. So, she pressed the thin blade down on into her arm, slicing as deeply as should could into the soft flesh.

Taylor watched the blood begin to pour out of the deep wound with rapt fascination. She would have expected that such a deep cut would hurt immensely, but she did not feel it at all. It took her a second to notice the black dots dancing in front of her eyes and she sighed deeply, feeling her body already relax as the first real smile in months settled onto her lips and all she could think as she began to lose consciousness was _“Finally…”_.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Taylor woke up slowly with a hazy mind and it took her long moments to even realize fully that she was indeed waking up.

The first thought rushing through her mind before paralyzing fear flooded her system was “ _Fuck! I have failed!”_

The thought let tears burn behind her closed eyelids. She was honestly afraid of opening her eyes now. She had no idea who could have found her in time to save her, it should have been impossible and her mind cannot process how she could have failed. The plan had been utterly fail-proof after all.

She tried to focus on her breathing, trying her hardest to get her frantically beating heart to beat slower. She knew that she would only work herself into a panic attack if she didn’t.

Next, she tried to focus on the surface beneath her and what she felt under her palms made her pause. She expected to be residing in some form of hospital, maybe even fastened to a bed, but she was most definitely not even lying on a bed. The surface felt all wrong for that.

“ _Is that grass?”_ she wondered with a frown as her panic slowly diffused giving way to puzzlement. She took a deep breath, eyes still closed, focusing on the smells around her and her frown only deepened. There was no stench of antiseptics in the air, the smell she immediately associated with a hospital, instead she was surrounded by a weirdly earthy smell. Taylor could not remember a single room in the hospital in which she worked, which had this specific smell.

 _“Am I in hell?”_ she wondered, finally gathering the courage to blink her eyes open. She had to close them again immediately for a second as bright sunlight blinded her momentarily. Taylor distinctly wondered if she may just be under some form of anaesthesia which was muddling with her mind.

When she opened her eyes again, she could finally manage to take in the scenery around her. She recognized that she was in an extremely dense forest and indeed lying on a patch of grass in a small clearing. She had absolutely no clue where she was though. She tried to remember how the forest in her city looked like, but she shook her head in growing frustration. It did not make a single bit of sense that she somehow would have found her way here. Taylor had never actually spent any time in the forest of her city, not having enough free time.

She slowly noticed that she was not dressed in her bikini any longer either, instead she was dressed in the outfit she had worn the day before. Dark skinny jeans with the sweater and her dark sneakers. Cautiously, she reached out towards her right arm, shoving the sleeve of the sweater upwards.

Taylor blinked dumbly at her own arm for long moments. She could clearly remember that she had cut deeply into this arm, but all that was left now of the undoubtedly large wound was a faint scar, as if that had happened months ago instead of only hours. She knew that from a logical view that the arm impossibly could have healed so quickly, it should still be bleeding profusely and not having faded into a thin reminder of a scar. 

Something about this forest made her pause. Taylor was pretty sure that she had never been here. She had never been into hiking or such. She had always been the typical beach holiday type of a person. Although she was certain that she had never set foot into this forest, something about it rang weirdly familiar, which only confused her more deeply. _How can a place be familiar although I am sure to never have been there?_

Taylor suddenly remembered the film “The lovely bones” and immediately wondered _“Am I in some form of heaven?”_

She had never really payed what happened after death too much mind. Every time she had wondered about it, Taylor usually just feared that death would indeed not be the absolution she had been hoping for and right now, she was unsure of what to think might have happened.

Taylor wondered if calling out would make any sense, but she was unsure if she was alone or not and something clogged her throat, making it impossible to speak up for now.

Slowly, she got to her feet, deciding that just staying in this place made little sense. No matter where she was currently, she could just look around and do some exploring.

Taylor moved through the forest at a slow pace. She was not exactly talented in hiking and usually managed to trip on a perfectly flat surface, so, she was careful now not to stumble and get hurt. She somehow highly doubted that she would find medical equipment in the vicinity in case she would manage to break a bone with her typical clumsiness.

Although she had never been the biggest fan of nature, even she now had to acknowledge how beautiful this forest around her looked like. Its wildness immediately fascinated her, it appeared almost untouched by civilization and Taylor had not been aware that such a place still existed on earth. She still had no idea of where she was or how she could have gotten here.

No matter how careful she was, Taylor of course still managed to get a foot caught on a root she had overlooked and immediately tripped to the ground with a startled yelp. She barely managed to shoot her hands out in time to catch herself at least partly before she would crash to the ground face first. 

Taylor could already feel that both her wrists smarted uncomfortably from catching her whole weight and that she had scraped her knees, but she immediately forgot the sensation of pain when her eyes fell onto what must be a skull directly in front of her on the ground.

With a slight grimace she reached out towards the skull and her eyes widened in fright when Taylor recognized from anatomy class that the shape of the skull did most definitely not match the anatomy of a human skull.

“What the fuck…” she muttered under my breath in astonishment as her mind tried to process what it had just seen. The forest around her did suddenly appear like a dangerous jungle to her. Taylor had never been in a jungle before, but even she knew that the climate was different and although she was no expert in botany, she recognized how the trees looked all wrong for that too.

Taylor tried to remember if the form of the skull allowed the conclusion that it belonged to some form of ape. But she discarded that idea as well, remembering the first semester of biology. Apes with this long skull had grown extinct a long time ago and she could definitely not think of a logical explanation of how it could have gotten here.

For some weird reason Taylor could not pinpoint currently, the skull did seem familiar as well somehow though. Her eyes looked around in alarm now, hoping not to spot any possibly mutated animals.

She was utterly confused now and muttered a summary under her breath of what she was certain of right now. _“_ You are not in your home town, you are in an unknown location, surrounded by possibly mutated beasts _”_ she muttered to herself.

 _“Absolutely no reason to panic”_ Taylor tried to calm herself, feeling the panic wanting to take hold of her mind. “ _Could I somehow have travelled back in time?”_ she suddenly wondered. As dense as the forest was, she guessed that such a forest will undoubtedly have existed in the past, but probably not anymore at least since the industrialisation. She was not familiar enough with botany to be able to identify by which trees she exactly was surrounded by at all.

Nothing was making sense right now. Taylor could quiet clearly remember how she had tried to take her own life. “ _So, how in hell have I come to be in a forest god knows where and when?!”_ she thought with rising frustration at the whole situation.

Taylor’s expression darkened visibly when she noticed that it was just beginning to rain, too. She had always hated rain with a passion. She loved water itself, loved to swim, but getting wet by rain was a whole different story to her.

She of course lacked any jacket or umbrella and she had no idea where she should now search for shelter. So, she trudged through the forest with a dark look on her features, cursing her fates in her mind. _“Had a peaceful death really been too much to ask for?”_ she wondered sarcastically.

Her expression darkened even further when she heard thunder resonating around her, as if the heaven itself had decided to answer her thoughts.

“Yeah, I get it!” Taylor spoke out loud through clenched teeth, glaring up at the sky and crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. She let them sink a moment later when she realized just how ridiculous she was behaving. No one was with her anyway.

Taylor continued to walk through the forest, feeling her clothes slowly getting soaked. She just noticed now that her wavy hair was fastened into a high ponytail and the strands which were too short to hold in the hair tie had fallen down and were plastered to her face now.

She could have sworn that she had worn her hair open when she had attempted to take her life, but she discarded her mussing again. It hardly mattered why her hair was styled differently. The much more pressing question was still where she was and if she was alone.

She had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do if she failed to find another human somewhere. Taylor had never been longer in a forest than for an extended walk, never even camped really in a forest. She knew that she would probably starve or die of some infection on her own in just a few days.

“ _Too bad that Sabrina is not with me right now”_ she thought and the thought of her best friend made her chest clench painfully. The girl had vast knowledge of nature because she had been a scout since early childhood. She would not be so helpless right now.

Taylor’s expression turned from moody to frightened when the graveness of the situation began to truly sink in. She was alone, utterly alone in an unknown location without any kind of equipment. She was not feeling particular hungry or thirsty right now, but she knew that this would change all too quickly. She could not even be sure on which plants would be safe to eat. If she only had agreed to partake in the survival course Sabrina had wanted to do and had found no one to go with her. Taylor had immediately declined back then, telling her that she would hardly ever need survival skills out in the wild while working as a doctor in a hospital.

Although she had grown up in a really tiny village, Taylor had never been much of the nature type. She had always dreamed about making a career in some metropole. She hated getting dirty, camping and absolutely loathed all kinds of insects.

Suddenly, Taylor spotted what appeared to be a deer ahead of herself between the trees and she remained rooted to the spot. She had seen a few deer already back in her small village, where they lived on the fields surrounding it and in the tiny remainder of the forest. But she had never seen one up close. Carefully, Taylor edged closer to the animal, forgetting to watch out for her steps and she managed to trip again.

The sounds she made while trying to catch her balance before falling once again, startled the deer and the animal abruptly turned into her direction.

The breath got caught in Taylor’s throat when her eyes locked with those of the deer and all she could think was _“No, no, no!!! This has to be a fucking joke…!!!”_

Its head was split in half and it looked horrendous.

Suddenly everything clicked within her mind as the pieces fell into place. The forest, the deformed skull, the two-headed deer and the familiar feeling she had since waking up.

Taylor could recognize everything now. And although she recognized everything, her mind refused to accept this.

 _“It is utterly impossible to fall into the reality of the 100!”_ Taylor’s thoughts argue against what a part of her had already acknowledged. The first season of the 100 had been her favourite and she had watched it several times. She vividly remembered now how the 100 encountered the very same deer, spotting the very same skull.

Taylor’s breath hitched as her mind raced. If she forgot the impossibility of such a thing happening for a moment, then Taylor needed to find out at which point of the series she currently was.

She had read about this concept of a jump through reality happening in probably a hundred Harry Potter fanfiction and she could not deny the proof in front of her very own eyes. _“Maybe I am in fact in a coma?”_ Taylor wondered thoughtfully, but as she felt the pain radiating through her wrists, she concluded that it didn’t matter for now. If she could hurt herself, then maybe she could also die here. What would happen then?

Had the 100 already fallen from space? Had the Mountain already fallen?


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Taylor remembered how Jasper had been speared in the show, just for crossing a border the 100 could not have known about. So, Taylor knew that she needed to keep watch of where she was going now. Taylor could only hope that she actually was within the time frame of the series she had watched. The series had not provided much information about former commanders and she could only imagine what would happen to her if Lexa was not the one reigning the clans and she ran into a grounder.

What she I was still in the time before the clans had peace? Judging from the nature around her, Taylor definitely was after the modern world she knew had ended and she was relatively certain that she would be killed on sight without any question if there was a war still ongoing between the clans.

The fangirl within her rejoiced at the possibility to come face to face with some of her favourite characters of the show, but Taylor immediately shook her head at her own stupidity. Even if she happened to encounter any of the grounders, Taylor would need to remember that they will not be the characters she had read about in fanfictions. The series had portrayed the grounders as mostly brutal warriors who would probably kill you first and ask questions later. She would need to be extremely cautious if she did not want to be executed on first sight.

Taylor knew that it would be possible that the characters she had seen in the show did not even exist where she was right now. She was not sure about the “rules” of this whatever journey she had made involuntarily.

 _“An easy death had obviously been too much to ask for”_ she thought sarcastically as she sighed deeply and rolled her eyes.

The wind picked up around her and she began to feel the coldness seeping into her soggy clothing. Taylor clenched her jaw shut with a slight clicking sound, when she began to chatter with her teeth. She wound her arms around her torso, trying to preserve as much warmth as possible. She was all too aware of just how quickly she tended to catch a cold, so, she was relatively certain that she may already on the way of getting sick.

Taylor remembered from the show that there definitely would be predators roaming through the woods around her and she did not have any weapon, so, she knew that she would somehow have to try to stay away from animals. Taylor was very certain that she would die instantly if she was to encounter a panther or this mutated gorilla from the show. She shuddered slightly as she remembered the Reapers from Mount Weather and she wondered if she should expect them to suddenly appear in front of her as well.

She had no idea in what direction she was even moving. It was entirely possible that she was moving in circles without even noticing at all.

Taylor sighed again and she barely noticed as a few tears mix into the raindrops falling down her face. This was a different kind of desperation now coursing through her mind. Before, she had been desperate to escape her life, to end it, to finally have peace. But Taylor knew that her life had been relatively comfortable. She had had her own place; she had a secure job and salary and a fridge stocked with food and a supermarket just around the corner. She had never before been in a situation where her basic needs for survival were not met easily. Now, she had absolutely no clue about where she was. Taylor did not know where to find water or something to eat, neither where she could safely seek shelter. She really had no idea about what she should best do now. Continue moving?

Taylor knew that she could theoretically just sit down and wait. But she was not convinced that just sitting down and doing nothing was actually a viable option now. What if no one would cross her path? She knew that thirst and hunger would get her moving sooner or later again.

But she was also not sure about how she would be welcomed if she really encountered another human being. If she encountered a grounder it was a very real possibility that she would be killed without any further questions asked. If she encountered someone from the Mountain, if that even existed right now, the same could happen. Taylor was unsure what would most likely happen if she ran into someone from the Ark. Would they recognize that she was no Grounder?

Her head was spinning with all these questions running through her mind quickly and she thought that she was beginning to panic again. The rational part of her mind quickly recognized though that panic would get her nowhere now.

So, Taylor tried to forcefully calm her breathing and pay more attention to her surroundings again. She had not even noticed that she must have been sobbing for some time, as she tried to calm down again.

The rain was still pouring down relentlessly and she sensed with a grimace how water had already begun to gather inside of her boots.

Taylor looked around herself again, searching for anything beside the endless trees surrounding her, but she failed to spot anything and let her shoulders drop in defeat. For all she knew, she could be hours or even days away from the next living human beings.

Her determination to keep moving, vanished completely as a thought loudly coursed through her mind “ _What if in this reality there aren’t even any Grounders and I am utterly alone?”_

~ ~ ~

In the end, Taylor located a small cave with pure luck, almost falling right into the entrance. The cave must have been used before and in the near darkness she could distinctly locate what must have been used as a fireplace by whoever had occupied the cave before herself. She had been lucky though and no one joined her within the cave.

The night passed horribly slowly and once the sun began to rise, Taylor gave up on sleeping altogether. She was not sure if truly had slept at all during the whole night. She was feeling chilled to the bone and her clothes still clung to her skin uncomfortably, she could feel that they were still dumb and she almost knew for certain that she had caught a cold now.

Her stomach was rumbling with hunger and she didn’t think that she had ever felt as stiff as she did now, lying on the stony cold floor of the cave without any kind of bedding had definitely been the most uncomfortable bedding she had ever tried to sleep on.

With growing unease, Taylor slightly pinched at the skin of her hands and noticed that she was already showing signs of dehydration. She needed to find water to drink and urgently at that. No matter how uncomfortable a rumbling stomach may be, she knew that lack of water would kill her way quicker than starvation could.

Taylor slightly shook her head at herself. She had attempted to take her own life the day before and now she thought of ways to stay alive.

She wandered through the forest without any real idea of where she was going, hoping that she would encounter a stream with luck, just as she found the cave the night before. It occurred to her some time later, that it would have been clever to somehow mark the way back to the cave, but now she already was too far away from it to try and find he way back now.

She did not know for how long she had been wandering around, when she indeed stumble upon a body of water. It did not appear to be a stream and looked more like a puddle of water, left over from the strong rain during the previous night. The water was muddy and Taylor doubts it is suitable to drink, when she suddenly heard movement ahead of her from between the trees. For a second, she remained frozen to the spot, unsure of what she should be doing.

Taylor glanced up at the trees around herself. The deepest branches she could spot were high above her head, so she discarded the idea of trying to climb onto a tree and hide there.

Her heart began to beat faster, when Taylor noticed that the sounds were getting louder with each second, so whoever or whatever was causing them, had to be moving in her direction.

Taylor got up from her crouched position at the puddle of water and while she was still contemplating what her next actions should be, two persons broke through the trees ahead of her.

One woman was pulling a blonde female behind herself by a rope which was tied around the blonde female’s hands. Taylor’s mind only needed the blink of a second to recognize Clarke Griffin as the blonde woman, her bright and shining hair gave her away immediately. Taylor’s mouth fell open though when her eyes trailed over who must be Anya.

The woman was glaring at her suspiciously and she seemed to have crouched into a defensive stance, ready to launch herself at Taylor without much notice.

Taylor lamely held up her hands, showing that she was not carrying a weapon. She regretted not having learned Trigedasleng now. “I am unarmed” Taylor immediately proclaimed in a loud tone, when Anya’s brown eyes narrowed at her.

Anya’s face darkened visibly when she heard Taylor speaking in English, giving away at once that she was not a grounder.

When she slightly shifted her feet and let the rope binding Clarke’s hands together fall to the ground, Taylor knew that she was screwed.

Her eyes shortly flickered over to Clarke, who had obviously recognized this as her chance to escape and when Taylor’s gaze flickered back to Anya, Clarke had already turned on her feet towards the tree line.

Anya seemed to cuss under her breath in annoyance and obviously was torn between following Clarke and attacking Taylor.

Taylor realized that the general would still be carrying the chip with which the Mountain Men had followed Clarke and her in the show, so the Mountain Men could not be too far away either right now.

What would happen if Clarke fell back into the hands of the Mountain now? There probably never would be an alliance between the grounders and Skykru, which would mean that the Mountain would never be taken down. But Taylor knew that Anya was not going to survive this day, if the events played out like they did in the show. Although she was aware of the fact that the Anya who was still standing across of her, was not the same woman from the fanfiction she had read, she also did not want her to die either.

“I am not from the Mountain, Anya” Taylor proclaimed, when the older woman seemed to have decided to make her attack. Taylor could see her brown eyes widen at the fact that she had known her name and the general’s brief confusion was immediately replaced with suspicion.

“How do you know my name?” the general growled at Taylor in a hostile tone through clenched teeth.

Taylor felt the hairs on her arms raise at the threat carried in her tone and she tried to raise her hands again as her mind hurriedly tried to think of a convincing argument.

“I …” she stumbled upon her own words, as her thoughts became clouded with panic. Even from the slight distance, Taylor spotted how much taller Anya was and she sensed that her patience was waning quickly as well. “The Mountain Men are still following you” Taylor tried to warn the general, hoping that a change in the events may somehow safe the other woman’s life “You have a bump on your right arm. It’s a chip they use to locate you” Taylor hurried to add.

Anya tilted her head slightly as her brown eyes almost burn with their intensity, obviously trying to make up her mind if she ought to trust this stranger.

Taylor knew that she was probably the worse liar on earth, so she was not overly worried that the general may think that she would be trying to lie to her. Everyone had always told Taylor that her eyes were as easy to read as an open book. Taylor could see the general subtly feeling along her arm with her fingertips and her gaze left Taylor’s features when she must have found the bump under her own skin.

“How do you know this?” Anya repeated the question and Taylor was not sure if she imagined it or if the general’s tone had really lost some of the biting edge.

Taylor slightly shook her head “You would not believe me, if I tell you” she honestly retorted, feeling that lying would only get her into more trouble. For some reason she wished for Anya to trust her and she would definitely not earn the suspicious woman’s trust if she lied to her face.

The general’s features turned alarmed again, but the other woman turned her attention to the bump on her arm.

Taylor was not surprised when Anya brought it to her mouth and bite down at the bump, tearing the skin and the chip from her arm, which immediately began to bleed profusely. Taylor felt the immediate urge to move closer to Anya and offer to take care of her bleeding arm, but she remembered Anya’s refusal in the show to the same offer from Clarke.

When Anya opened her mouth, Taylor interrupted her and exclaimed what she remembered the general say to Clarke in this moment “I know that you will not go back there”. Taylor could see that she was right, without the general needing to say anything, by the quickly hidden flash of shock within her brown eyes.

Taylor took a deep breath; she knew that she was walking on dangerous grounds with her next words, but she figured that being with the grounders would be the safest for her and she wanted to remain with Anya hoping to keep her alive through the night. She did not understand the sudden urge herself, but Taylor decided to just follow her inner feelings.

“I know that you have been commander Lexa kom Trikru’s mentor before she became the commander and you have been taken into the Mountain after Clarke has burned your army at the dropship” Taylor proclaimed, cautiously edging a little away from the other woman, hoping to get out of her reach if Anya was to decide to still launch at an attack at her.

The older woman appeared speechless for a moment, but her defensive stance someone lessened, before her head whipped around altogether suddenly, alerted by a sound coming from the tree behind us.

Taylor had not expected Anya to reach out so quickly and she yelped when one of her hands closed around her left wrist suddenly and the general already pulled her along, hissing into my ear “I do not know who you are, but you are coming with me!”


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Taylor had to try hard to keep up with Anya’s fast pace, although she did not really have a choice in the matter any way. The general was holding on to her wrist with a vice-like grip which honestly was already hurting. Taylor knew just how quickly her fair skin bruised and she was certain that she would be having a colourful bracelet of bruises around her wrist tomorrow.

“I won’t try to …” Taylor tried to convince the older woman in a feeble tone to soften her grip around her wrist. 

“Quiet!” the other woman hissed back, not even turning around to look in Taylor’s direction and not slowing her fast pace down even a little either.

Taylor understood of course why Anya wanted her to remain silent. She knew that the Mountain Men must still be roaming around, probably even close to them, searching for Clarke and the escaped grounder. Taylor wondered for a moment if she might somehow even be able to change the fate of the Mountain Men. She was not sure though if it would be possible and she was even less convinced that it actually was a good idea to try and safe the Mountain Men. Sure, the Mountain surely entailed innocent people, but the earth was fated to be destroyed soon enough anyway if this reality played out like the show and it would only bring another group of people into the mix when the ALIE thing happened.

Taylor continued to stumble helplessly behind Anya, doing her best to follow the older woman without falling down. She had always been rather clumsy and she knew without a doubt that without the general steading me from time to time, Taylor would have managed to make them both topple to the ground.

Taylor noticed though how Anya’s expression darkened just a tad bit more each time she stumbled again and she could only hope that the general would not fully lose her patience with her.

While following behind Anya, Taylor wondered if the fight between the general and Clarke needed to happen, but the show had made it appear as if Anya only had respected Clarke afterwards. Clarke had neither fought really fairly, nor had she just given up and she had earned Anya’s support for a cease fire that way.

Would Anya even speak for the Sky people in front of Lexa without the fight? Taylor also had no idea how slim her chances were to first see Lexa and second convince the commander of her knowledge.

“Are you searching for Clarke?” Taylor spoke up after a while, trying hard to keep her tone low.

She was completely unexperienced in navigating through a forest and had no idea if the Mountain Men could still be in earshot or not. She remembered from the show that Finn and Murphy would soon attack the village and how negatively this influenced the grounder’s view of the Sky people. Would it somehow be possible to intercept them on their way? On the one hand Taylor knew that watching Finn being executed must be what truly made the Sky people respect the grounders, on the other hand she felt drawn to somehow keep as many people alive as possible. Unfortunately, the show had switched points of view too often without specifying on a clear time frame to really know for sure that Finn and Murphy had not already left Skykru.

“She and her people have killed 300 hundred of my warriors. I need a price to show when I return to my people” Anya answered back after what felt like an eternity to Taylor.

Taylor had already been certain that the general would remain silent and ignore her question altogether. She nodded in acknowledgement, even though she knew that Anya could not have seen her inclining her head. Taylor was not surprised by Anya’s answer though, the general had given almost the exact same wording to Clarke for a reason as to why she was dragging her with her through the forest and not bringing the girl back to Skykru.

Taylor knew that it would be foolish to think that Anya was truly trusting her yet. There were so many questions coursing through her mind about what she should best be doing. The show had not shown really much of the grounders and she was honestly so curious to find out if what she had envisioned was even close to the truth or completely false. For a while Taylor wondered if she should try and tell Anya all that she knew of the possible future, but she was afraid that the general would just think that she had lost her mind.

Taylor was still deep within her mind, wondering how to formulate her questions about the grounders, when Anya abruptly stopped in her fast pace.

Taylor was so taken by surprise at the stop without any warning, that she directly crashed into the general’s back, nearly falling to the ground again at the unexpected impact.

Anya glared daggers at Taylor and her grip on the other woman’s wrist tightened even more “Watch out! You are unobservant” she chided her, voice dripping with disdain.

Taylor let her gaze drop to the ground, nodding her head mutely. She knew that she had a habit of getting lost within her thoughts, indeed making her unobservant at times.

Taylor knew herself to be observant in another way though, namely to the moods of others, but she had never been very observant of her surroundings. She had often walked by other people without even noticing, bumping into things or stumbling because she had not been watching where she had been going; she had always lived more within her head than in the world around her.

Anya suddenly began to walk again, pulling Taylor along relentlessly and prompting her to stumble again.

Internally, Taylor cussed her own clumsiness. She had always joked that she would probably die by breaking her neck in a stupid clumsy accident and the people who knew her closer, knew that the joke carried enough truth to become reality at one point.

Taylor remained standing almost dumbly, when Anya suddenly let go of her wrist unexpectedly, launching into a sprint without even saying a single word. Taylor tried to make out where the general had just disappeared between the trees. She found it illogical that the general would leave her behind after dragging her through the woods for what felt like several hours now. Taylor felt panic rise again though with every second that passed. What if the general did not return?

Taylor still had no real clue where she was within the woods. Only the fact that she had encountered Anya and Clarke proved that she was somewhere between the Mountain, the camp of the Ark and several grounder villages. For all she knew though, she could easily walk right into the arms of the Mountain Men if she moved in the wrong direction.

Taylor had unexpectedly been able to stop Anya from killing her on sight, but to the other grounders she would surely appear like one of the Sky people and Taylor did not know what their exact orders were currently concerning outsides. She still could just be killed on sight for all that she knew. She may be able to recognize Indra, Nyko and Gustus, but not enough other grounders were introduced with their names in the show, to buy her enough time to explain who she was and why they should not just kill her immediately.

Taylor remained standing between the trees indecisively. Should she try to locate Anya and Clarke? Would Anya come searching for her again after the general had found Clarke? Taylor could guess that the woman must be puzzled by her appearance, but would she be important enough for the general to seek for her? The question really narrowed down to the fact if Anya had understood the potential value of the information Taylor held or not.

Taylor did not know for how long she had remained there, gazing blindly ahead of herself, but she was almost relieved when she heard steps coming closer to her again. For a fleeting moment Taylor feared that it may be the Mountain Men, but she quickly recognized that it indeed was Anya, dragging behind a clearly struggling Clarke.

The older woman was obviously surprised by the slight smile on Taylor’s features when their gazes connect for a short moment.

“Come!” Anya ordered in a harsh tone, letting her gaze roam around us for a moment, probably looking out for Mountain Men “I will bring both of you to the commander now”. Her tone did not leave any room for discussion.

Taylor could almost see the general debating with herself if she needed to bind Taylor as well.

So, Taylor quickly nodded in agreement, stepping in the general’s direction and waiting for the older woman to go ahead.

Not soon after, Clarke began to try and convince Anya to let her go again, but the general reacted in the same way she did in the show.

Taylor wondered if it would be wise to tell both of them what would most likely happen, but she still feared if she may change the future too much, so she kept her mouth shut, letting them debate between themselves. Instead, she turned her attention to the nature around them, trying to blend out their argument altogether. For a brief moment, Taylor truly appreciated the beauty of the forest around them. She had never seen such untouched and wild nature before.

Nothing had changed about the denseness of the forest, but somehow within Anya’s proximity, who Taylor knew to be skilled on how to survive here, she felt safer.

Taylor momentarily was taken by surprise when Anya suddenly stumbled.

She had no idea when Clarke had gotten hold of the dart of the Mountain which now visibly stuck out of Anya’s neck. Taylor’s brows furrowed together. For some reason, the image of Anya’s limp body disturbed her.

“Are you going to help me or what?” Clarke turned to Taylor now, holding out her hands towards Taylor in a clear plea to free them of their bindings.

Taylor slightly shrugged her shoulders. She had wondered before how Clarke actually had managed to pull Anya through the forest on her own. Although Anya was thin, she was tall and muscular, so she undoubtedly was heavy as well.

In the end, Taylor indeed helped Clarke. She knew that the blonde girl would not leave Anya behind, she wanted to use her after all to get into contact with Lexa. Taylor just somehow needed to get Anya away from the camp of the Ark, before she would be, shot like she was in the show, dying before getting back to her own people. Taylor had subconsciously already decided that she would try with all her might to save Anya, something instinctively urged her to save the general.

Taylor’s breath staggered when she finally laid her eyes on the surroundings of the drop ship. They had both been dragging Anya’s unconscious body through the wood for a long while now and Taylor had not noticed that they had reached the drop ship.

The air here still smelled horridly and although the show had shown that the warriors Anya and Tristan had led against the 100 all had burned alive, Taylor had not really been prepared for the sight of all these burned bones and how the whole ground was covered in a thick layer of ashes.

Taylor turned back to Clarke and Anya, when the general suddenly rose from the make-shift stretcher they had used and although Taylor knew that the two of them would be fighting now, watching it with her own eyes, was weird and disturbing.

Taylor did not know what she was supposed to do when Clarke and Anya finally began to fight. She knew that they both would survive this fight. For some reason Taylor is more worried about Anya than about Clarke and she winced in sympathy each time, the younger woman managed to land a blow against the general.

Although Taylor had watched this particular fighting scene more than once on the show, seeing it now was another matter altogether. The fight looked so much more brutal. As a doctor, Taylor knew just how incredibly much physical damage a human body could take, but she could also imagine just how many bruises Clarke and Anya would have in the following days.

Anya stepped over to Taylor once the fight was over. “You knew that this was going to happen” she said in a tone telling that this was more of an assessment than a question.

Taylor nodded her head “I knew that you both would survive. Your wounds need medical attention though” she tries to caution the general, glancing at the bleeding wound on her arm, in which Clarke had just stuck a finger, opening it again. Taylor had no idea how the general still managed to stand upright. She was worried that Anya would collapse of physical exhaustion or fall into a state of shock, but the general’s brown eyes were surprisingly focused and clear. Distinctly, Taylor registered how even covered in soot and dirt, bruised and battered, Anya’s features still held a silent pride and edgy beauty.

Because of the show, Taylor already knew that Anya would agree to bring Clarke to the Sky people. For a moment, Taylor felt urged to convince Anya otherwise, enhancing the general’s chance of survival, but she worried that Clarke would not make it to her own people alone. Taylor had judged the way between the dropship and the camp of the Ark to be shorter.

Darkness had already begun to fall around them when the Ark loomed ahead of them and Taylor felt the hairs on her neck rise at the sight. She had no idea how far their guards actually were keeping watch of the forest. 

Impulsively, Taylor reached out, touching both other women softly, stopping them, still hidden between the trees.

“You need to separate here” Taylor said to both of them, voice shaking slightly, feeling how important this moment was now. She was looking at Anya with urgency within her eyes, hoping to mutely convince the general to trust her once more.

Anya’s brows visibly furrowed and Clarke seemed confused as well.

“Your guards will begin to shoot when we get in sight” Taylor explained quickly in a clear tone. She hesitated for the briefest moment, before turning her full attention to Anya “You will die here if you step closer”. She hoped with all her might that what she was doing now, would prevent the general’s death as Anya’s brown eyes widen in surprise. Taylor cannot interpret her expression well enough though to judge if she believed her words or not.

A shot suddenly rang around them and Clarke let out a surprised pained shout “Go!” she screamed at them. The bullet had grazed her arm, just as it did in the show and Taylor immediately felt the adrenaline rush loudly through her ears, as Anya pulled her away and back deeper into the forest. With every step they cover away from the Ark, Taylor felt a little more relived, sensing that Anya was out of danger for now. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

From the show, Taylor had gathered that there was a long distance between the dropship and the rest of the Ark, but she quickly had to recognize that Anya had an even longer distance in mind for them to cross tonight. Her whole body was aching from exhaustion and she was starting to feel dizzy. Taylor realized with worry that she still had not done anything against her dehydration, neither had she eaten anything as she was not sure what she could eat without poisoning herself.

“Anya” Taylor finally chose to address the general in a feeble tone, laced with exhaustion. The other woman had not taken hold of her wrist again, obviously trusting that Taylor would either not try to run away or that she would catch her again easily. Since they had turned their backs to the Ark and the Sky people, Taylor had blindly stumbled behind Anya, trusting that the general had a destination in mind where they would find shelter, water and food. She was sure that Anya could also benefit from some medical attention.

When Taylor felt herself beginning to sway on her feet, black dots dancing in front of her vision, she stopped walking and shot out a hand to steady herself against a tree bark. Her hand slipped down a little on the tree as her physical strength wavered and Taylor can feel the rough texture causing small cuts on the palm of her hand.

Anya stopped in front of the other woman, inspecting her critically, wondering why she seemed to be so weak. The general huffed under her breath, seeing the blonde woman nearly falling down, even while steadying herself. She would have to carry her, if she wanted to reach the village tonight.

“We will stop only for a few hours” Anya finally proclaimed in a sharp tone after a few seconds of internal contemplation.

Taylor immediately nodded her head in agreement, not caring now for how long they would rest. The prospect of being able to sit down and rest was heavenly now. She let herself sink down next to the tree slowly, when Anya suddenly reached out, closing a hand around Taylor’s upper arm in a strong grip and pulling her up again.

Taylor expression fell in disappointment, she did not think that voicing her protest would be of any use, so, she stayed silent.

“Not here” Anya explained, tone only slightly softer, as she pulled Taylor along.

Taylor wasn’t sure but it seemed as if the general was looking for something. She sighed deeply in relieve when Anya stopped again only a few short minutes later. Taylor let herself sink down at the place Anya’s had pointed to and she was now leaning a tree trunk.

It took only a few seconds for Taylor to notice that her jeans were getting damp. The grass she had sat down on was obviously wet and she frowned in distaste at the feeling. Taylor highly doubted that any dry place where they could seek shelter for the night was close enough by or Anya would surely have led them there. She had not really expected for the general to agree to stop at all.

Taylor watched on with rapt fascination how the general seemed to arrange a few logs on the ground and suddenly lightened them up only using two simple rocks. She once again wished to have attended the survival course with her friend.

“You have no experience here” Anya assessed in a thoughtful tone as she sat down on the other side of the small fire, gazing at the stranger who was her unlikely companion now.

Taylor immediately nodded her head in agreement. She still felt urged to earn the other woman’s trust and she knew that she had to be honest for that.

Taylor knew that she had prevented the general from being shot in front of the Ark. In the timeline of the show, Anya’s character would have been dead by now. She highly doubted though that Anya’s life was indeed safe now, Taylor was honestly still waiting for the older woman to collapse. She had seen what the Mountain Men had done to Anya and the other grounders and as a doctor she knew what this blood harvest would have done to the general’s body.

The fact that she had been able to prevent Anya’s death in front of the Ark, now gave her hope though that she indeed had the ability to change how things had played out in the show. She could essentially influence the future now and Taylor could only hope now that she would influence it in a positive way. She already direly hoped that she would be able to prevent Gustus’, Lexa’s and the nightbloods’ deaths.

“You claim not to be from the Mountain” Anya broke the silence again, narrowing her eyes at the stranger in the dim light of the fire.

Taylor nodded her head again in agreement. She only had restricted knowledge about the Mountain Men, not having liked their role in the show and not having paid too much attention to them while re-watching the series. Taylor had been fascinated most by the grounders and had been a little disappointed by how little was shown of them.

“Where are you from then?” the general questioned next and her tone turned sharp again. Anya had no idea just what to make of this stranger yet and she tensed almost automatically in case the other woman would say something which warranted an attack.

Taylor sighed under her breath. This had been exactly the question she had been afraid of the most, but also the one she had been sure to be asked. Although she had decided beforehand to remain honest, Taylor highly doubted that honesty would mean much to the general know. The other woman simply would not understand the only honest answer she had to offer.

“I come from a land called America” she finally exclaimed honestly, watching Anya’s brows furrow together in confusion, which had been exactly the reaction Taylor had expected. Taylor recalled that the land the grounders populated was also supposed to be America, but she doubted that they still used this name, so, she was not sure if Anya ever had heard this name before, judging from the puzzlement within her brown eyes, probably not.

“Is you commander taught the history of the world before the bombs?” Taylor questioned in a cautious tone, not giving Anya another chance to ask her anything.

The general’s expression was hard to interpret for Taylor. She was not sure if she had pinpointed the emotion flashing through her brown eyes correct as surprise. She held her breath in nervous anticipation, hoping that she had not affronted the general by interrupting her and Taylor breathed out a bout of relieve when she caught the general nodded slightly.

“Lexa will have heard the name before then” Taylor exclaimed without further thought. She gave a little wince at the almost hostile alarm flashing over the other woman’s features at her casual usage of the commander’s name as if she knew the commander personally. Taylor remembered the personal bond implicated by the show between Lexa and Anya. She had always wished to see a scene between both women. Former mentor and commander together. But unfortunately, the show had only shown Lexa’s brief reaction to the news of Anya’s death. Taylor hoped that she would indeed get a chance to see the two interact with her own eyes.

The hostility unfortunately did not leave Anya’s expression any more and Taylor began to be unnerved by the general’s probing constant stare after a few moments of silence. She had always hated to be in the spotlight of attention like this and Anya staring at her without voicing what she was thinking, was creeping her out.

“Listen, Anya” Taylor finally broke the silence, trying to sound so much braver than she actually was “I do not care one bit if you or the commander decide to kill me, but please let me tell you what I know, maybe even write it down. In the …” she hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words “… string of events I know of, you have not survived this night. You were shot by the guards of the Sky people. Clarke would have taken a braid from you and handed it to Lexa once they met, trying to get her to form an alliance between your people and hers to work on getting the people out of the Mountain. My knowledge of what may happen, stretches out much further into a possible future.”

The general appeared affronted at Taylor’s sharper tone and she only realized now, that the general was holding one of the rocks she had previously used to kindle the fire hidden in one of her hands.

“There will be an alliance between my people and the invaders?” Anya asked after a tense moment of silence. She had gotten into a crouch and was balancing her weight on the balls of her feet.

Taylor nodded quickly “In the future where you have died, there was one. I can only assume now that it will still come to be”. She had seen enough fiction films to understand that she actually had absolutely no idea how far reaching the consequences of the single change of saving Anya’s life in front of the Ark would be.

“Why do you appear so eager to tell this to someone?” Anya asked, tilting her head slightly, obviously still trying to figure out this weird stranger.

Taylor chose her next words carefully; she could sympathise with how confusing all of this must be to the general after all. “I know how crazy this must sound to you. But in the future, I have seen about all of you, your world will go down in chaos soon” she settled onto a vague warning.

Even in the dim light, Taylor could see the general’s brown eyes widen in surprise “If we do not manage to change the future, the coalition and almost all the grounders will die in the next two years” Taylor exclaimed in a rush, hoping that the unveiled truth would not be too much for Anya. She already knew that she would need to be far more cautious when other people were listening to what she knew of the events of a possible future, but she still wanted Anya to understand just how important this could be to all of them.

Taylor feared that Anya would not say anything further when silence fell between them. She could only try to patiently wait for the general to mull over what she had just told her.

“Will Lexa also die?” the general finally asked in a strangely calm tone, looking over at the stranger without even blinking.

Taylor sighed under her breath, before she reluctantly nodded “Her flamekeeper accidentally shoots her while trying to kill Clarke” she explained in a heavy tone.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

On the next morning, Taylor was woken again by Anya, giving her shoulders a shake to rouse her. It felt to Taylor as if she had barely closed her eyes only a few minutes ago and she felt anything but rested.

A pitiful groan escaped from her lips when Taylor struggled to get up from the ground. She immediately felt that her clothes were still damp. A shiver ran through her frame involuntarily and her whole body felt stiff from the cold and wet which had seemed to have seeped into her very bones.

“You have not slept outside before” Anya assessed in a neutral tone, while she watched the stranger struggling to stretch out her limbs. 

Taylor did not feel like talking yet, never having been much of a morning person, so, she just mutely shook her head. She wished for the privacy of her apartment now. A soft bed, a hot shower and a heavenly cup of coffee. Taylor had always needed some time in the morning for herself to work up the energy and mood to be able to converse with others. Although she knew that Anya would not be able to offer her any of this, she would also soon need something to drink if she did not wish to faint.

Taylor stretched herself against the tree bark, reaching high into the air with her arms and she grumbled in slight annoyance when her sweater rode up with her movement. She pushed it down again with a huff, trying to comb through her hair her fingers next and simply pushing the strands behind her ears for now.

All the while, Taylor could almost feel the weight of the general’s gaze watching her every move.

“We will leave soon” Anya suddenly proclaimed, getting up from where she had been sitting and crossing the small distance to the stranger, offering her some food. She had appeared faint yesterday already and Anya did not want to have to drag her through the forest.

Taylor did not even think twice about what it was that Anya was offering to her, before she took the item. She inspected it more closely though and recognized that it was some sort of root or the very least a plant. Due to her lack of knowledge in botany, Taylor can only trust now that this thing was even edible.

“Eat” Anya clarified a moment later, glancing down at Taylor with a slight frown, annoyance rising within her.

Taylor knew that it was foolish to wonder if this thing was edible. If the general had wanted her dead, she could have easily killed her during the night after all. Cautiously, she brought the root to her mouth, taking a small bite from it. She was surprised by the weird consistency – very juicy – and the thing tasted much too bitter for her liking, but Taylor knew that the juiciness of whatever this thing was called that she was just eating, would greatly help with her dehydration.

“Thank you” Taylor finally said in an honest tone. She had already eaten almost half of this root-thing. She knew that the grounders were not really kind to their prisoners at least according to the show. Taylor remembered how Markus and Thelonious had said in the show that they were left in the holding cell for two days without food or water. Could it be that the general was not seeing her as a real prisoner anymore?

Anya watched the stranger eat cautiously. She herself would not have just accepted anything without knowing what it was and eating it. She was puzzled why this stranger had not even thought to ask if what she had handed to her was poisoned. “You do not seem to fear poison” the general exclaimed a moment later, not quite hiding the lingering confusion from her expression. 

Taylor shook her head in the negative “Like I said yesterday, for all I care, you can kill me, once I had a possibility to write down all that I know”. Her tone had been almost cold and her expression blank while she spoke.

Taylor watched the general’s confusion visibly only enhance at her answer. She guessed that she would have to proof her point. With a slight sigh, Taylor shoved up the sleeves of her sweater, turning her arms in a way that Anya can visibly see the thin scar left behind by her suicide attempt. If she had seen such a scar on one of her patients, Taylor would have immediately known that these must have been self-inflicted.

Surprisingly, the general obviously had not understood though. “You have been tortured” she assumed with her eyes narrowed.

Taylor sighed under her breath, only now finally really looking up to meet the general’s gaze.

She was surprised to note that Anya must have left her for some time before waking her up. The general had obviously tried to clean herself up at least somewhat. Taylor could see that a large portion of the woman’s face was marred by bruises now. She had always been a rather light sleeper and would have expected to notice Anya leaving and returning, but obviously she must have slept right through it all.

She let out a humourless laugh at the general’s wrong assumption and sighed, pulling her knees upwards to her chest, making herself smaller in the process “They are self-inflicted” Taylor clarified in a heavy tone with a whirlwind of emotions rushing through her mind.

Anya appeared even more baffled by that in a way and Taylor wondered for a moment if the concept of suicide was so absurd to the other woman that Anya may still have not understood what she meant.

Before Taylor could make up her mind if she should try and explain in other words, Anya exclaimed “We need to leave”.

Taylor nodded her head in agreement, struggling to finally get up for real from the damp ground, while Anya stomped out the small fire quickly. She let out another loud groan when she finally got to her feet. Her back hurt like hell and there was a headache hammering through her skull. Pain was nothing new to Taylor though and by the way with how much caffein she usually consummated, she knew that the headache could already be a sign of withdrawal, so, she tried to ignore both sensations to the best of her abilities.

“How long is the way?” Taylor asked, trying to stall for a bit of time, as she tried to stretch out her back, hoping to get her spine aligned a little better to ease the pain.

Although Taylor felt the general watching her while she stretched, she did not stop in her weird movement until she felt her spine lengthening with a few audible pops.

“A few hours” Anya answered in a matter-of-fact tone. The general smirked slightly at the groan the stranger let out at that information.

Taylor would lie if she said that the prospect of another long track was appealing to her at all. For a moment, she considered if telling all of her knowledge about the plotline of the show to Anya and just letting the general kill her here would be a viable option, but a part of her feared that Lexa would not believe Anya’s strange words. A small part of Taylor also looked forward to hopefully seeing the commander in person.

“Oh” Taylor exclaimed before Anya began walking as it only occurred to her now, that she had never even told the general her name “How rude of me, my name is Taylor Ysabella Davis” she finally formally introduced herself to Anya.

The general visibly furrowed her brow in response, muttering “You have many names, Taylor Ysabella Davis”. The pronunciation of the names was visibly alien to her though.

The corners of Taylor’s lips twitched into a slight smile “You can call me Yssa” she offered in a kind tone, giving the general an almost hopeful look.

Weirdly, Anya only inclined her head mutely once and decided that they would finally begin their way, walking ahead of Taylor and expecting her to follow.

Taylor kept silent as well, trying to walk more carefully. She tried to watch how Anya was walking, hoping to mimic the other woman’s movements. To Taylor it seemed as if Anya was moving weirdly graceful over the ground, barely leaving any kind of traces where she had stepped. Taylor immediately felt like the “Klutz” her father always had nicknamed her.

When Taylor finally turned her attention from Anya’s feet to the other woman’s features, she noticed that the woman must have been watching her for some time in silence on the way now and she immediately felt herself blush deeply at being caught like this.

“You try to learn” the general said, giving voice to what she had watched and if anything, her tone sounded amused.

Taylor kept her eyes glued to the ground beneath her feet, sensing that her face was almost aflame by now.

“You wish for death and yet you try to learn” Anya continued to speak in a slightly confused tone when Taylor had remained silent.

Taylor’s head whipped up before she could even think of controlling her instinctive reaction. She was more than just a little baffled at how quickly the other woman was obviously looking through her façade, picking up on things no one else around her ever had.

Taylor’s expression of shock morphed into annoyance when the other woman began to laugh at her spontaneous reaction. A very tiny part of Taylor’s mind noted down how different Anya appeared for the moment in which she laughed, younger somehow.

“If your knowledge proves valuable, the commander surely will not decide for your death” the general informed Taylor, keeping her tone still sounding amused, while she paused in her steps.

Taylor could not stop her words before she snapped at the general “Too bad. You’d be doing me a favour”. Taylor could not pinpoint why, but somehow the general was incensing her. Before Taylor thought her actions through, she quickened her steps, walking away from the general in a random direction.

“Are you a child?” the general’s sudden question made Taylor stop finally after a brief moment and she turned back around towards the general with a raised brow, still feeling weirdly angry. Taylor was not certain why she was suddenly so angry. Was she angry at Anya for seeing through her so quickly? At herself for being so easy to see through? Or at the fates who had denied her the absolution of death.

“Of course, not” Taylor bit back in an angry tone, thinning her lips in annoyance.

“You sulk like one though, Yssa” Anya assessed with a raised brow and there still was a tint of amusement in her tone.

Taylor’s anger melted away immediately, hearing the general use the nickname which she usually had reserved for friends was a weird feeling. She did not know why she had even proposed for Anya to call her “Yssa”, but it felt weirdly good. Otherwise she was also being reminded instantly of her parents. Even in her earliest memories Taylor remembered being told to not act so childishly. Being told that she had acted childishly always meant that her parents were once again disappointed in her. “Sorry” Taylor sighed under her breath in defeat, averting her eyes again from the general’s probing gaze.

Anya shook her head at Taylor with a slight huff “You were moving in the wrong direction by the way” she pointed out, voice now definitely sarcastic, turning around and walking ahead in another direction.

Taylor followed the general mutely, internally chiding herself a fool for once again acting the way she usually did and probably diminishing whatever fleeting trust Anya might have had in her.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The rest of the way passed in silence and Taylor was oddly grateful for that. She was starting to get comfortable and secure in the general’s presence. Taylor knew of course that Anya would be able to protect her if they were attacked and as long as the general thought her to have valuable information to Lexa, Anya would surely keep her alive.

Taylor was not that positive about what would happen after she got a chance to recite her information to Lexa. Why should the commander decide to keep alive after all? She knew that she was nothing but a weird stranger to them. Although some curiosity had awakened inside of Taylor again which would make her try to enjoy this new world, she would not truly mind if Lexa decided for her execution.

The fact that Anya was leading the way, gave Taylor the chance to let her mind wander freely, not having to concentrate on the way. She still remembered how the husband had looked at her in the emergency room. While the guilt was once again starting to consume her, Taylor distinctly wondered if the man was out of the hospital yet. She honestly hoped that he would find another reason to stay alive, but she guessed that she would never know so now.

Although Taylor could feel tears blur her vision, something inside of her refused to let go fully right now. She could imagine that she would already be weak in Anya’s eyes with her incompetency to move through woods like she did for example. Did it really matter what the general thought of her? With a slight huff under her breath, Taylor had to realize that for a reason she could not name, it did indeed matter to her. Taylor knew though that she would never be strong in any physical sense, but she still had a quick and clever mind. 

“Stop that!” Anya's surprisingly harsh words put a stop to Taylor’s thoughts.

Taylor looked at the general with slightly widened eyes, surprised that the woman had even noticed anything was amiss. Taylor was used to walking with others without them noticing anything. She could not even count the times anymore in which she had needed to look away or walk ahead or behind to hide the fact that she was battling with tears. Taylor usually got herself back under control soon enough that no one ever pointed it out.

“Sinking into your mind is not helpful” Anya said after a moment of silence and her voice had softened just a tad bit.

Taylor merely nodded. She knew that the mind could be a very dangerous place to be in and during her function as a doctor, she had never been able to allow her mind to wander like this. The lives of others had depended on her functioning and being focused.

She tried to search for an answer to the general’s worlds for a few moments, before she noticed that the other woman was still continuing to shoot probing gazes at her.

“I know" Taylor finally agreed, sighing again as she felt part of her facade breaking away. No one truly ever had tried to inquire more in depth about what was going on in her mind and she was not used to speak about it. She slightly shook her head, remembering the very few times she had tried voicing her real feelings to her family. No good had unfortunately ever come from these few attempts. Thus, Taylor had gotten used to either hiding her true feeling or just burying herself in her work. A lot of the times Taylor had felt as if she simply had a different form of communication than everyone else, somehow as if although she was reading the same book, she was never on the same page with anyone. “My mind can be pretty mean" Taylor finally added, when she sensed that the general was still not satisfied with her answer.

After a moment of mute contemplation, a slight frown settled on Anya’s features and her tone was thoughtful when she said “You must carry an immense amount of guilt”.

Taylor was once again unnerved by the fact that Anya obviously was on the one hand trying to understand her on a deeper level and on the other hand succeeding at it as well. She had never really allowed anyone to get her to know like this.

Although Taylor had efficiently decided to try and stay with Anya in the clear hope to be able to save some of the grounders, she did not see how Anya needed to get to know her like this. Something within her clenched together at the thought that the general learns the truth. Would she look at her with the disgust Taylor thought to deserve? She felt as if she had failed as a doctor and from her perspective this made herself faulty in an unforgiveable way.

As a doctor, Taylor had sworn to protect and save lives. At the same time, she had lost faith in humanity. Too often in the past had she experienced how selfish people truly were. If they did not need you any longer, they forgot you ever existed in their lives. Taylor had not even noticed how she had sunken back into her mind and thus, she was startled when Anya suddenly spoke up again.

“For what do you carry so much guilt?” Anya tried to prod at Taylor further. She had slowed down her pace, when she had noticed how Taylor was beginning to show signs of exhaustion already. The general also just genuinely wanted to understand why this young woman obviously seemed so desperate for death.

Taylor sighed again, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. Could she dare to bare herself like this in front of the general? Did Anya require this to truly believe in her words?

“What do you want to know exactly?” Taylor settles on, feeling defeated as she let her arms sink down again. She knew that her stare was empty, as she looked back at the general.

“Something has broken your spirit” Anya assessed and Taylor is taken by surprise by how gentle the general’s tone suddenly appeared to be “Who did this to you?”

Just in the moment when Taylor opened her mouth to finally answer the general’s question, a form suddenly dropped down from a tree directly in front of them. While Taylor only could let out a startled yelp, Anya put herself in front of Taylor protectively.

“ _Anya, you are alive! The commander…”_ the young man excitedly said.

Taylor tilted her head to the side, she had not understood more than Anya’s name of which she really liked the stronger pronunciation and the commander’s title, before the general interrupted him.

“ _Go ahead and tell the commander that I will need to speak to her soon. And to have a guarded tent arranged”_ Anya only acknowledged his enthusiasm with the hint of a smile.

Although the young man threw a curious glance in Taylor’s direction, he turned on his feet and left without another word, hurrying ahead of them.

“We will arrive shortly” Anya had switched back to English now “You do not know our language” she assessed with the hint of a question in her voice.

Taylor shook her head “No, only a few words” and when Anya looked at her questioningly, she explained “I recognized Lexa’s title example”.

The closer they got to their destination; the more Taylor began to feel nervous. The thoughts were starting to circle wildly within her mind, trying to remember as many details of the plot of the show as she could in the correct order. She really wished for a few pieces of paper and a pen. She highly doubted that Anya would directly bring her to Lexa without speaking with the commander alone first. Hopefully, she could convince the general to get some paper before she met the commander.

Taylor was grateful though that the other woman did not try to question her again. When she thought to spot the first changes in their environment, Taylor reached out softly, stopping the general in her stride, telling her about her wish for something to write her information down.

To her surprise, the general agreed to have something to write brought to her without any questions asked. Taylor did not even take the chance to look around the grounder village, too lost in her mind, already trying to design an outline of what she now wanted to write down. She only gave Anya a curt nod, at the entrance to a small tent, rolling her eyes when the general cautioned her not to try and leave.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Anya had honestly never expected to set foot in one of their villages again. She could feel how all heads were turning her way and how the muttering started.

She knew though that she was returning in shame. She had led an army against the invaders and as far as Anya knew, she was the only survivor, returning alive from a lost battle.

Anya had not seen Lexa in person since the day she had been sent from the capitol to a small village in Trikru territory. She could only hope now that Lexa would welcome her at all.

She was honestly nervous and she shuffled her feet awkwardly for a moment in front of the tent in which Lexa stayed, ignoring Gustus staring at her.

Anya finally cleared her throat, took a deep breath and swept into the tent, keeping her back straight and her expression blank. “Co…” she started the formal greeting, but was interrupted immediately.

Lexa had stood up abruptly from her chair and her expression was so clear to read for once that Anya was surprised to recognize clear relieve and honest joy at seeing her alive on the younger woman’s features.

“You returned” Lexa exclaimed in a voice which was tinted with awe “and you did not return alone” she added, expression already starting to close off again. “What happened to you?” she questioned her general.

Anya inclined her head “The Mountain Men appeared just after our soldiers burned…” she had to close her eyes for a moment. She vividly remembered how she had instinctively jumped into the invaders’ metal construction just moments before it closed. The screams of her dying comrades would remain with her forever, together with the stench of them burning. The horrors which followed inside of the Mountain were not comparable though and Anya had to pause her narration more than once.

Once Anya came to fleeing from the Mountain with Clarke’s help, Lexa interrupted her.

“One of the invaders helped you escape?” she asked in clear confusion. In the meantime, there had been only bloodshed between her people and the Sky people and Lexa found the idea of one of the Sky people breaking one of her own people free to escape absurd.

Anya nodded her head in agreement, briefly telling Lexa more details about Clarke and how the girl had tried to speak to her before in order to have a cease fire between both their people.

~ ~ ~

Taylor did not even take the time to really take a look around the tent. Admittedly, there also wasn’t very much to see about it. She sat down on the small stool immediately, ignoring how the tent flap was closed behind her. She did not have to ask to know that she was guarded in the tent now. She guessed that she ought to be grateful not to have been thrown into one of the holding cells which had been shown in the show. Or were they in a different village which did not contain such a cell?

Taylor shook her head, telling herself quickly that she needed to focus. Such details did not matter and she had no idea how much time she would be granted to write down what she knew, before the commander would agree to see her.

For all that she knew, Lexa may immediately decide upon her execution, thus, Taylor wanted to finish writing down everything she remembered before seeing the commander.

Thankfully she had been supplied with a kind of pencil and did not first have to figure out how to use the writing utensil.

Taylor began to scribble away in a fast pace. During her medical studies, she often had to take notes in a hurry and still had tried to keep them easy to decipher. She never had liked how many of her classmates already developed a weird shortened form of writing which only they understood.

Taylor had some difficulties sorting through what she remembered. She had begun with writing down bullet points, with only very vague ideas of when this would happen.

Once Taylor tried to make a timeline out of it, she paused. If they were not in the village yet in which Jaha and Kane would be held, then maybe the massacre Finn was going to do to Indra’s village had not happened yet. She jumped up quickly, even before the thought had fully formed in her mind, knocking over the stool in her hurry and stumbling over her own feet.

Taylor literally fell face-first into the tent flap with a grunt, cursing her own clumsiness in her mind and struggling to get to her feet again. She did not even wish to know what the guard of her tent would be thinking right now.

The tent flap was pulled open just as Taylor had gotten back to her knees and she looked up with her grey eyes.

The boy who had opened the tent flap was only boring on adolescence and Taylor knew that he must be several years younger than her. His features were not perfectly guarded yet and he was laughing at her as even he must have recognized that the commotion could never have been an attempt at escape.

Taylor thinned her lips, trying not to react to him outright laughing at her, as she finally got to her feet. “I need to speak to your commander, right now” she informed him in a tone lazed with authority.

“The commander will summon you, if she wants to see you” the young warrior retorted, visibly straightening himself.

Taylor only noticed now that a sword was dangling from one side of his hips and he was clutching the pommel now, obviously ready to pull the sword on her any moment. She raised her hands in defeat, hoping to signal that she was unarmed. “Please, this is important and extremely urgent” she tried to explain, voice getting desperate “I need to speak to the commander NOW” when the young man still made no indication that he would move any time soon, Taylor sighed “then please just fetch Anya, she will understand”.

“Please, I really need…” Taylor repeated her plea again. She did not know just how much time they had now to prevent Finn’s massacre of 18 innocent people in Indra’s village. The show had said several times that only elders and children had been killed in the massacre, making this an even more horrible crime.

“My order was to guard you and wait” the boy retorted, but his voice seemed to waver at least a little.

“Hey!” Taylor addressed him again with rising desperation when he begun turning his back on her “It’s really important” she repeated.

“I need to follow the orders” he said with a clear tightening of his jaw.

Taylor huffed out a large breath, frustrated as she knew that with each second ticking by, their chances to reach Indra’s village and save these innocents was decreasing. She recognized a lost fight though and turned around again.

Taylor now looked around the tent, seeking for weak points through which she may be able to slip through. The question was though if whoever caught her would just kill her or hopefully bring her to Anya or ideally Lexa.

Thankfully, only a very brief moment passed before Anya appeared at the entrance of the tent, clearing her throat to alert Taylor to her presence.

Taylor whirled around quickly, managing to catch a fold of the material which covered the ground with the tip of one of her feet. She let out a startled yelp and the momentum of turning around towards the entrance had Taylor falling directly into Anya’s arms.

The general looked down at Taylor with a raised brow “And I had the slim hope that you’d have less problems walking on flat grounds”.

Taylor blushed deeply as she tried to push away from Anya, she needed only a second to remember why she had wanted to speak so urgently with the commander.

“We need to leave now” she said urgently with despair in her tone “We can still stop the massacre”.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“What massacre?” Anya echoed in a clearly bewildered tone. The general still had one hand resting on one of Taylor’s elbows, ignoring the way how the blonde woman was still blushing so deeply.

“Finn …” Taylor stopped immediately, starting over again. How should Anya know the name of Finn yet after all?

“One of the invaders you had fought against, he was searching for Clarke and he thought that your people have her and his other friends” Taylor tried to explain, internally praying that the general would believe her and just bring her to Lexa. For a fleeting moment, Taylor wondered though if the commander would even want to try and save the villagers, while she remembered how Lexa had decided against warning TonDC of the missile.

Taylor tried to clear head again only a second later “One of your outcasts described him the way to Indra’s village and the invader will kill 18 innocents there. If we act fast now, we can surely prevent this…”. Taylor was looking at the general with pleading eyes, wishing with all her heart that the other woman would believe her. She could see a conflict passing through the general’s brown eyes for a moment, before the older woman steered Taylor away from the tent.

Anya did not say a single word while she guided Taylor through the small village.

Taylor was not sure if this indeed even was a village. She could not spot a single building, but her location seemed to be more of a make-shift camp, made up entirely out of a few tents. She would not have recognized the commander’s tent as it did not look any different from any other tent from the outside. For a second Taylor wondered if Anya actually even had brought her to the commander or not. Shouldn’t the commander’s tent be guarded somehow? She could not spot any guard.

“Wait here for a moment” Anya suddenly whirled around, giving Taylor a stern gaze.

Taylor barely had nodded her head, before the general had already slipped through the tent flap. She waited with baited breath for what would happen now, trying to strain her ears for a clue as to what was being said inside. She was not sure though if she caught any words and if she did, then the words were not spoken in English. With each second passing, she was getting more and more impatient, remembering vividly how Finn had blindly shot at the innocent villagers who had dared to move.

Internally Taylor was debating on just barging into the tent or not, when the tent thankfully was opened from the inside and Anya motioned her inside mutely.

If Taylor had not known beforehand how the commander looked like, she would never have suspected Lexa to be the leader. What she saw now, was a young woman just a few inches taller than herself, thick brown hair with a few braids and dressed in plain dark clothes, absent were the pieces which signified Lexa’s station as commander in the show. The woman also did not appear to be wearing any kind of makeup or face paint right now and Taylor was slightly taken aback by her obvious youth.

For a moment, Taylor seemed to have forgotten what she wanted to say as she dumbly gazed at Lexa, fascinated by the depths of her green eyes. She was woken from her momentary daze though when Lexa’s eyes turned suspicious and even slightly annoyed.

Taylor cleared her throat and she threw a glance at Anya for a second, before she met the commander’s gaze again.

“You know who I am?” Lexa spoke up finally, not giving Taylor a chance to state what she wanted.

Taylor immediately nodded her head “You are Lexa kom Trikru, successor to the first commander Becca Pramheda. The commander of the coalition and one of the Sky people will massacre innocent villagers in Indra’s village soon. I don’t know if we may not already be too late, but there is still a chance that this senseless massacre can be prevented.”

Lexa’s eyes widened just a fraction and her gaze minutely connected with the brown eyes of her former mentor.

Anya only inclined her head slightly, as if saying “I told you so” mutely.

“And you say that you know that there will be a massacre in one of my villages?” Lexa prodded with a slightly raised brow. Her tone still showed how astounded the commander was by the fact that Taylor knew not just her full name but also the correct name of the first commander.

Taylor and she quickly summarised the details and the reasons of the massacre which was about to happen. When she had finished, she looked at the commander with pleading eyes “We can save them” she added with desperation. It went against her very nature to know that there would be 18 people killed, people which she believed could be saved.

“If there are only two of the invaders in the village, no other warriors have to come” Lexa finally said to Anya after a brief pause of contemplation.

Taylor guessed that the commander did not want to explain to any of her warriors the reason why they would hurry to one of their villages seemingly random now. So, it made sense to only keep Anya involved and no one else. She only hoped though, that the general was physical well enough. She had no idea of the distance between this camp here and Indra’s village and Taylor was sure that the general would really need a good rest to recover.

“Can I come?” Taylor asked, not sure if the two women would trust her like this. She breathed out in relieve though, when Lexa inclined her head in mute agreement.

“Try to keep up” Anya addressed Taylor in a sharp tone once they left the tent.

Taylor nodded her head with a slight blush. She was not clumsy because she liked to be after all. She could only hope now that she had learned at least a little while trying to mimic Anya’s walking earlier.

The walk through the forest was more a run for Taylor than anything else and she was so occupied with keeping upright and not falling to the ground, that she barely noticed the distance they travelled.

The moment that they got close to the village was obvious as suddenly a shot rang through the air.

“You did not say anything about guns” Anya hissed at Taylor, looking at the younger woman with angry brown eyes.

Taylor opened and closed her mouth for a few seconds, dumbfounded. In her mind it was totally logical that whenever Skykru was involved, it was a fight with guns, but apparently Lexa and Anya had not expected this.

“I’m sorry” she said lamely “I thought that was obvious. But it is only one gun” Taylor added immediately, lowering her eyes to the ground for a second. From the show she remembered that John Murphy also had a gun, but he had not used it for more than threats. It had been Finn who lost it and just blindly shot.

Taylor knew that they did not have much time left now. The shot they had heard only seconds ago must have been Finn’s warning, signifying that he indeed would use the gun. Taylor’s stomach twisted when she remembered how Finn had first shot the young boy in the show and chaos had broken lose immediately.

“We have to go now” Taylor urged both of them. Her whole mind was focused on saving these people, if they waited much longer, than they would be too late.

“I will go first” Lexa immediately said and one of her hands closed around the swords she had carried with her.

Taylor noticed how Lexa’s whole demeanour had changed in just a few seconds and she was surprised by the sheer determination burning within the commander’s green eyes.

She followed behind Lexa and Anya as the general had insisted her to go last. The view into the village had not been clear yet and Lexa had been cautious in getting nearer to the village. From the tree line, they watched for a short moment.

Finn and John Murphy were standing in the middle of the village, visibly debating between each other, while the villagers were kneeling in the flock. Just like in the show, John was trying to convince Finn that they should leave.

Taylor saw the commander tense and ready herself to jump into attack just a blink of a moment, before the woman indeed moved past the treeline, sword ready in one hand.

“Finn, come on, they are not here” John Murphy shouted, casting nervous glances between Finn and the villagers “Let’s go, now!”

“They have to be!” Finn shouted back “They are lying!” his voice sounded crazed with desperation.

John had stepped closer to Finn, lowering his gun and reaching out to pull Finn away “We need to leave now before…” but he never got the chance to finish his sentence.

One of the villagers had finally saw the chance to try and flee.

Finn immediately whirled his gun to the movement and shot.

Taylor opened her mouth in horror and both, Lexa and Anya, suddenly sped up, still too far away from Finn to take the gun from him.

“Finn!!! No!!!” John shouted, clearly appalled.

Finn seemed to be in shock for a moment himself, but as soon as another villager began to rise in clear anger, wanting avenge, he started shooting again.

Taylor knew what would happen now, Finn would shoot blindly at any movement he saw. In the show it had appeared as if it took a few moments after the first villager was shot, but in reality, Finn almost immediately started to shoot around blindly.

Lexa and Anya had taken cover behind a small hut and right in this moment, Finn actually turned his gaze in their direction.

To Taylor it seemed as if time had suddenly turned into slow-motion. Finn turned his gun towards them, having spotted them and she saw how his attention seemed to be focused on Lexa. She knew that the commander was absolutely not allowed to die. It would mean even more chaos and death if Lexa died now. So, Taylor followed her instincts and just as Finn took sloppy aim, she gave the commander a strong push. She highly doubted that it would have had any impact on the younger woman if Lexa had payed attention to her, but the commander’s attention had been focused on Finn and his gun.

The push she had given Lexa, put Taylor right into the position though where Lexa had just stood and she felt the bullet enter her body almost as soon as she heard the shot being fired.

Taylor felt Anya suddenly pulling her down and out of the line of shooting.

All the while, John Murphy was still shouting at Finn, beginning to pull him away, as more and more grounders fell, being shot by Finn.

“Yssa…” Taylor barely heard the general’s worried voice against the loud rushing noise in her own ears. She let out a deep groan when Anya suddenly pressed down on the wound in her abdomen, seeing dark spots dance in front of her vision as she was on the verge of blacking out.

“I’m okay” Taylor brought out in a strained tone, letting Anya pull her to her feet “I can walk” she added, when she noticed the general’s worried expression.

She did not understand what Lexa was saying to the general speaking quickly in a heated tone and Taylor followed the two of them back into the woods, while shots still rang out behind them.

“You pushed me out of the way” Lexa broke the silence between them a few moments later.

Taylor nodded “You need to survive” she explained with a slight groan. The wound was pulsing painfully with each step and she was not sure yet if it was a clean shot or if the bullet was still inside her. She swayed slightly on her feet.

Anya reached out quickly to steady her, watching the blonde woman in worry “You do not have to walk, I can carry…”.

But Taylor interrupted the general’s offer with a shake of her head and mumbling “I am fine, I can take it”.

In the end though, she could not take it. After a few more minutes, Taylor suddenly lost consciousness and Anya thankfully had walked close to her, to catch the other woman’s body, immediately scooping her lifeless form into her arms.

“How much has she told you about what she knows?” Lexa questioned. She was still puzzled that this stranger had willingly just taken a bullet for her.

Anya shook her head ruefully “She actually did not tell me anything specific. But she had asked for writing utensils, so, she will have written everything down”.

Lexa nodded thoughtfully “I want to see those papers immediately…”.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Anya immediately caught Taylor when the other woman was beginning to sway visibly on her feet. She had lost consciousness before Anya could have said anything to her.

The general scooped the unconscious woman up into her arms, inspecting her closely.

Taylor’s skin had become alarmingly pale, as she was wearing a dark sweater and trousers, it was not possible to judge just how much blood she may have already lost.

“Is she…?” Lexa immediately stepped closer to her former mentor, looking worried. She could not wrap her mind around the fact that this complete stranger had just put herself in the way of a bullet for her.

Anya shook her head in the negative; she could feel that the woman within her arms was still breathing. “She is unconscious, but still breathing” she said and a hint of admiration was audible in her tone.

“How had she known of this attack happening at exactly this moment?” Lexa mused after a while.

Her mind was in utter turmoil. She was angry that the invaders indeed had just slaughtered defenceless villagers. The warriors which usually resided within this small village had all been killed in front of the invaders’ metal contraception, burnt alive.

This attack showed her though that she could not just lead a small unit of the Trikru warriors against the invaders. If one single armed young man could kill 18 people in just a few moments, just how many warriors would they lose in a real fight against the rest of the invaders?

Lexa had seen of course that the boy had shot blindly. She highly doubted that he possessed any training with such a weapon. Their scouts had reported that the new camp of the invaders was patrolled by adult soldiers who indeed knew very well what they were doing with their guns.

If Taylor knew about this massacre, what else did she know?

And why did this woman think that she needed to survive?

While Anya had explained to her how Taylor had known beforehand who she was, where this thing under her skin was hidden and that the Sky people would shoot at them, Lexa had not been sure if she ought to believe this.

What they had seen just a few moments ago, made Lexa believe Anya’s words though. She still did not understand why this stranger wanted to obviously save them in particular. Taylor could have most likely stayed with the Sky people as well, but Anya had emphasised how Taylor had just tried to save herself and insisted to accompany her to speak with the commander.

Lexa would immediately wish to read all the papers which this woman had written down once they got back to the camp. She would also send out riders to order reinforcement to join them before they could march against the invaders in full force.

Anya adjusted her grip a little on Taylor’s unconscious form. She felt how one of her hands was getting moist slowly with the woman’s warm blood and she was worried that they would not make it back to the camp in time for a healer to take care of this wound.

“She is very pale” Lexa assessed after a long while in silence, looking worriedly at the unconscious woman dangling from Anya’s arms.

Anya slightly shook her head “She has been pale before, but not like this” she agreed “She is still breathing though”.

~ ~ ~

Anya was still feeling relieved once the camp came into view between the trees.

Lexa ordered the general to carry the unconscious woman into the tent in which she herself stayed currently, as she would look for a healer in the meantime.

“I..it…it’s alright” Taylor suddenly spoke up, just having woken up within Anya’s arms “I can take the bullet out myself” she said, voice getting stronger with each second.

Lexa raised a brow in surprise, while Anya carried her into the commander’s tent.

Taylor let herself sink into a sitting position and waited with a groan on her lips for healing instruments.

Anya had stayed beside her, handing her a cup of water.

“I am fine” Taylor insisted, although the paleness of her skin belied her words. Taylor took a slight sip of the water, knowing that she needed to keep hydrated with the blood loss she had suffered. She knew that she was able to take out the bullet herself without help.

“There is no healer” Lexa returned with a huff and her tone clearly showed how displeased she was about the situation. She still had brought back a few instruments.

Taylor just gave the commander a weak smile. She would have wished for some alcohol or something else to disinfect the wound, but she knew that she needed to remove the bullet as soon as possible. She could only hope now that whatever internal damage she may have suffered would heal without real assistance.

She chose a pair of long tweezers from the instruments Lexa had brought and without much further ado shoved up her black sweater. The wound the bullet had left behind was small and Taylor was lucky that the tweezers actually were fine enough for it.

She took a deep breath and held it right in the moment as she inserted the tweezers into the wound. Her hand was steady as she pushed the tweezers deeper and she bit into her own lip, groaning at the intense pain pulsing from the wound outward.

Lexa and Anya exchanged surprised gazes as they watched in fascination how Taylor slowly dug the bullet out of her own body.

Taylor pushed a piece of cloth onto the wound for a moment. Her vision was swimming and she knew that she was close to fainting again. She needed to close the wound though. She did not inspect the needle and threat any closely which was among the materials.

Taylor grunted and breathed heavily as she slowly worked on sewing the wound shut. She guessed that she was lucky that it was no clean shot, otherwise she would have needed to shut two wounds.

“I am a doctor…” Taylor brought out heavily, just finishing the last stitch. Her mouth tasted of blood as she had bit too hard onto her lips and she knew that she still had groaned a lot during the procedure.

Taylor placed the needle and rest of the threat next to her with a shaky hand. “I am gonna…” she started to say, wanting to warn the other two women that she would pass out, but she already fell over.

~ ~ ~

Anya quickly jumped forward, making sure that Taylor would not slump down from the bed and she pushed her fully onto the mattress instead, pulling a fur over her form to keep her warm.

“A doctor” Lexa echoed thoughtfully; she had heard this term before. She needed a moment to remember that she had read the term in one of the old books in Polis. “She is a healer” she mumbled with astonishment.

It had been clear that Taylor definitely was not a warrior. Healers and especially skilled healers were rare in their world though.

“She obviously knew how to deal with such a wound” the commander assessed with veneration in her green eyes.

“Yssa seems to hide much more abilities than visible on first glance” Anya agreed, tucking the fur around Taylor’s body carefully.

“Yssa?” Lexa questioned with a raised brow. Anya had told her before that the woman was called Taylor.

Anya nodded “She told me to call her Yssa” she explained with the hint of a smile.

Lexa suddenly turned around, calling out loudly to Gustus and ordering him to bring the papers from Taylor’s tent to her right now.

“Let us see what she otherwise knows” Lexa said, turning back to her former mentor.

They both waited in silence for a few moments and both actually watched Taylor breathing while they waited.

Lexa accepted the few pages of paper from Gustus only a few moments later. The burly guard immediately left the tent again.

“And?” Anya asked, turning her gaze from Taylor over to Lexa and the sheets of paper in her hands.

“Let me see” Lexa said, turning the pages around.

What both of them had not expected though, was for the pages to set aflame suddenly the very moment as Lexa tried to read the words written on them.

Lexa let them drop with a slight startled shriek, instinctively stomping the small fire out.

She shook her head in disbelief at the ashes of the pages “How is that possible?” she asked incredulously.

Anya did not have any answer either though “Maybe Yssa has an idea when she wakes…”.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Taylor woke up slowly, biting down on her lip harshly again and she immediately felt the taste of fresh blood on her tongue. Her senses still seemed rather slow and she needed a moment for her focus to notice that Lexa and Anya were obviously with her at this moment. Taylor could distinctly hear the both of them talking. It took her a moment longer though to understand that they were not conversing in English.

Taylor could not remember immediately what had happened. The last thing which she clearly remembered was encountering Clarke and Anya in the woods and how she had warned Anya of the Skykru guard shooting at them. She remembered the way through the woods alone with the general, being exhausted, cold and wet.

The material under her palms was soft though and Taylor struggled slightly to sit upright. She let out a groan then as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen abruptly.

The memories rushed back to Taylor in that very moment and her grey eyes widened in horror. She had been so sure that she would be able to help and save some of the innocent villagers. The memories of how the husband had blamed her in the emergency room and how the villagers had fallen one by one under Finn’s relentless shooting blended together in Taylor’s mind.

Her breathing was suddenly coming out in ragged breaths, changing quickly into sobs as her grey eyes filled with tears. “I am so sorry” Taylor mumbled as the first tears began to down roll her cheeks “I thought that I could save them. I am so sorry…”.

~ ~ ~

Anya and Lexa stopped speaking immediately at the first sound coming from the bed. They had wondered for a while why these papers had erupted to flames suddenly and how such a thing was even possible, but neither of them had been able to think of a logical reason.

“Be careful, you are injured” Lexa tried to stop Taylor from moving.

Both, she and Anya, could only watch though how Taylor suddenly started to cry.

Once the woman struggled to move her legs down from the bed, in the clear attempt to get up, Anya stepped closer to Taylor.

She carefully reached out, placing both her hands on the other woman’s shoulders “Yssa, you are injured, slow down” the general tried to keep Taylor from moving “You have been shot”.

“No, no” Taylor shook her head, while tears still trickled down her cheeks. She was trying to push away Anya’s hands “If I only came sooner, this massacre would not have happened. None of them would have died.

Anya furrowed her brows; she could literally watch Taylor becoming paler and it did not seem as if the younger woman actually was fully present with them but instead in some form of daze.

“Is she feverish?” Lexa asked her former mentor with a frown. She could not understand why the other woman obviously was so deeply affected by the deaths of the villagers. Taylor was not one of them, so, why did she care so much?

Taylor was still shaking her head, feebly fighting against Anya’s hold. All of a sudden, she stopped all her movements though and her grey eyes seemed to clear up somewhat, her voice sounded even more broken though “I failed again…” she sobbed.

“Again?” Lexa echoed in confusion, not understanding what the blonde woman had meant. This woman definitely was not a warrior, so, how could she have been responsible for someone else’s death before?

Taylor looked up at the commander and her grey eyes carried an empty look “Yes” she nodded in an emotionless tone “I have failed his wife before and her husband blamed me for her death. He blamed me. The grounders’ families who have died will undoubtedly blame me too. You two will blame me too. I thought I can help, but I cannot help anyone …” her voice finally failed and she was still crying soundlessly.

Lexa had stepped closer to the bed as well, crouching down in front of Taylor, while Anya had made room for her, choosing to sit down on the edge of the mattress beside the blonde woman, keeping an arm very lightly around her shoulder. The general was unsure on how to comfort the upset woman.

Lexa instead tried comforting her. She was still surprised that Taylor was reacting so strongly to what had happened. Lexa reached out and placed her arms lightly around the blonde woman’s smaller frame.

Taylor immediately slumped forward and her head fell against the commander’s shoulder.

Lexa just lightly patted on her back, allowing her to cry as much as she needed for now and simply holding her in silence.

It took long moments of Taylor just continuing to cry, until her body had lost its little strength again and the woman drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

“She fell asleep” Anya assessed after a little while longer, voice soft and trying to connect the reaction she had seen now and what Taylor had told her before.

Lexa nodded and she carefully pushed Taylor’s upper body back onto the bed, while Anya helped to right her form on it, tucking her back under the fur, after she had quickly checked the wound on her stomach. It thankfully did not appear swollen or infected.

“So, this is what she meant” Anya said with a slight sigh “why she is so broken”.

“Broken?” Lexa asked her former mentor in confusion, raising a brow at her “Broken? How?”.

Anya sighed under her breath as she gently tucked the fur around Taylor’s sleeping form “The first time I saw her and was alone with her, I saw this void within her eyes before. It is like she has been broken by something or someone in the past. You can see both the pain and emptiness in her eyes”.

The general shortly looked down at the sleeping woman. Taylor’s skin was still an unhealthy pale hue and she hoped that the younger woman would wake up soon. She needed to eat and drink something and possibly drink a tea against the pain she was undoubtedly feeling. Anya’s brown eyes switched back to Lexa “She had said that we are welcome to kill her after she gave over the information she has. She wishes for death”.

Lexa’s brows only furrowed together further “Do you know what she meant by the husband and wife she has failed?” She was trying to wrap her mind around what the doctor might have meant.

Anya shook her head though. She wondered if Taylor may have told her about it in the woods right at the moment they had been interrupted during by the younger warrior. She did not know the answer to the commander’s question yet, but she hoped to get the chance to ask her in the future.

“Commander” Gustus called for Lexa outside of the tent and the young leader sighed slightly, before she left the tent without another word.

Anya decided to stay with Taylor and keep an eye on her. There was still no healer in their camp.

Although Taylor unmistakably looked weak on the outside and definitely was not a fighter, the doctor obviously carried a completely different strength inside her and Anya found her admirable for that.

Anya waited in silence next to Taylor and after a while, she followed an instinct and reached out, taking one of the other woman’s hands into her own. She told herself that she was only checking the Taylor was not running a fever. Her mind immediately noticed though how soft the doctor’s fingers were, unmarred by hard work. Something within her wanted to protect her, to keep her hands this soft.

Lexa returned into the tent a while later. Her eyes narrowed a little when she spotted Anya still sitting next to Taylor and she was even slightly annoyed and confused to spot the general holding onto one of the blonde woman’s hands.

Before Lexa could say anything, Taylor’s breathing audibly changed and a few seconds later, she opened her grey eyes again. She noticed how Anya was holding one of her hands and she was confused for the reason for a second. Taylor quickly remembered the first time she had woken and how she had broken down in front of Lexa and Anya, telling them about the husband and wife in her despair.

Taylor immediately blushed deeply, feeling that she had made herself way too vulnerable in front of the commander and general. She knew that the grounders were all about strength and she had definitely shown them nothing but weakness.

Taylor cleared her throat after a moment of awkward silence, remembering how she had only thought of the impending massacre after writing down all the information she could remember. She let her gaze travel through the tent for a moment. She frowned slightly, this was not the tent she had stayed in before and the papers were nowhere in sight either.

“Where are the papers I wrote down?” she asked in a strained tone. The wound within her abdomen pulsed horribly with each heartbeat.

“They burned” Lexa answered in a calm tone, coming to stand next to the bed and staring down at Taylor. It angered her slightly that Anya was still holding one of Taylor’s hands. She did not understand it, but she wished to be the one sitting in Anya’s place instead.

Taylor frowned in confusion “But? How did they burn?”. She could not imagine that Lexa or Anya would just burn papers with such valuable information.

“They erupted to flames when I wanted to read them” Lexa explained, watching Taylor’s expression for clues if the younger woman had known this would happen.

Taylor shook her head slightly “I don’t understand” she said “I can write everything down again…”.

Anya had to help Taylor into a sitting position on the bed.

Both, the general and commander, stayed within the tent watching in anticipation how Taylor accepted a few new sheets of paper and a pen. They both had somehow almost expected that the papers would immediately erupt to flames again, but Taylor could touch them without anything happening.

Taylor visibly was in pain, trying to keep herself up in a sitting position and she pressed her lips together in a thin line, obviously not wanting to show her pain.

Unsurprisingly, Indra had just arrived at the small camp of the commander and demanded to speak to the young leader immediately. Thus, Lexa had to leave her tent for now. All of them already knew why the dark-skinned warrior wanted to speak to the commander. Indra was responsible for the village which had been massacred by the Skykru boy.

Anya stood up from the bed. She had offered to remain with Taylor in the tent and watch her write the papers. “Wait” she addressed the blonde woman; she watched her bite down a pained groan long enough now.

Anya retrieved another pillow and helped Taylor sit up a little straighter.

“I don’t need another pillow” Taylor argued back, looking up from the paper for a moment. Her strained voice and the whiteness of her skin belied her words though. She had already shown herself too weak in front of the commander and general by breaking down and Taylor wanted to appear strong now.

Anya sighed under her breath at the sudden burst of clear stubbornness of the blonde doctor. She recognized the sudden shine in her grey eyes though for what it most likely was. She put a kinder expression onto her features, still keeping Taylor sitting upright.

“There is no shame in accepting help” Anya said in a soft tone, pushing the pillow under the doctor’s back and slowly letting go of her, letting her sink down in the pillows.

Taylor gave up her stubbornness and gave the general a thankful nod with a grateful expression. She was surprised by the older woman’s sudden kindness. She honestly did not understand it. They had failed in saving any of the villagers from the massacre. Taylor would not be surprised at all if the death count once again was exactly at 18 people. She wondered just why she had been able to save Anya’s life from being shot, while she had just failed the villagers. Was there a rule in this which she did not understand yet? Taylor also could not understand how the papers had been able to erupt to flames just like this.

She shook her head slightly, giving the general a little smile, before she turned her attention back to the still mostly empty sheets of paper in her lap. Sitting in this position honestly hurt like hell, but Taylor was determined not to let this stop her as she recalled to herself just what she had written down before.

Anya had gotten up from the bed, wanting to give Taylor more space. She found the younger woman’s apparent determination admirable. It was obvious how straining sitting up and writing all of this down was to Taylor. Anya could literally watch her paling just a little more as the time passed, while beads of sweat formed on her chalky skin.

“You should eat something soon” Anya said finally. For a while the only sound in the tent had been Taylor’s pen scribbling onto the sheets of paper and the little pained groans the woman was trying to supress “And there is a tea you can drink that ought to help with the pain” the general added.

Taylor looked up from the papers and shook her head “I can take the pain” she insisted stubbornly. She was not sure if she could stomach anything right now, but she knew that would need fluids soon. She guessed a soup may be best though.

Anya rolled her eyes at the doctor “You do not have to act like this” she said, voice slightly showing her growing annoyance at the woman’s sudden stubbornness.

Taylor narrowed her eyes slightly at the general, remembering how the show had portrayed the grounders. The general’s words were contrasting this strongly and Taylor was unsure why this was the case. She sensed though that this slight conflict would come up over and over again and she guessed that it would be easier to just speak about right now. For a fleeting moment Taylor wondered if the commander had decided yet, if she would be executed or survive. If she could not write her knowledge down, she could as well just relay it to Lexa in words.

“In this… future…” Taylor said slowly, meeting the general’s gaze directly to keep watch of her expression “…what I saw, your people were portrayed as holding strength up among all… Was that wrong?”

Anya furrowed her brows together in apparent confusion “Holding up strength?” she echoed, wanting to clarify this.

Taylor fumbled around with the pen in her hand uncertainly “In the future it appeared that some part of the animosity between your people and Skykru was founded in your people regarding the Sky people as weak” she sighed slightly, pausing for a moment as she looked down at the fur covering her body “by all means … I am weak” she finished in a discouraged tone.

Anya sat down at the edge of the mattress again, reaching out of instinct and stopping Taylor’s nervous fumbling for now “Strength is seen is different ways” she argued vaguely.

Taylor looked up at the general again, rising a brow at her in question.

“You are undeniably no warrior” Anya assessed. Although the doctor’s form appeared rather slim, she did not seem muscular in any form either “You hold a different strength though”.

Taylor slightly huffed under her breath and shook her head “I am not strong” she denied the general’s words immediately.

Anya chuckled at the younger woman’s quick denial “You are strong, Yssa. You have a quick mind and you are determined to save others.”

The blush forming on Taylor’s pale cheeks, made Anya chuckle even more though, finding this weirdly adorable in a way. Something about this doctor made her want to protect the younger woman. She wondered just what Taylor all had seen about their people, but she would ask her at another point.

“I will fetch you something to eat” the general finally said, breaking the slight tension between them.

Taylor watched the older woman stand up and leave the tent from the corners of her eyes. She was amazed slightly by how graceful Anya seemed to move. She slightly shook her head, both, Lexa and Anya, already had an aura of power around them. The whole poise in which they carried themselves did nothing to hide their strength. Taylor still felt her cheeks slightly heated from the general’s compliment. Was it even a compliment?

She shook her head, knowing that it was dangerous for her to think in such a fashion. She could not get attached to any of them. She did not understand how she had ended up here and how long it would last.

Taylor turned her concentration back to the papers in front of her, ignoring the constant pain within her abdomen and continuing to write down all that she remembered.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Once Taylor looked up from the papers in her lap again, she was slightly surprised to see the commander returning to the tent. She had expected for Anya to come back earlier with food. Taylor frowned slightly; she could not tell just how long she had been alone in the tent.

She had always been able to write in a very quick pace, so, Taylor could not really use the number of pages she had already filled as an indicator for that.

Taylor’s frown only deepened when she let her gaze drop from Lexa’s features back to the pen within her fingers. The pen was visibly shaking and no matter how much she tried to will her fingers to be steady they just would not stop shaking.

“You have exhausted yourself” Lexa assessed in a critical tone and her features showed a hint of worry for the blonde woman.

Taylor sighed slightly and brushed a damp strand of wavy hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She knew that the younger woman was correct though. There was a cold sweat on her forehead and the fact that her hands were visibly shaking was just another hint to her exhaustion. Taylor knew that she was in danger right now to push her body too far.

Under normal circumstances of the time and reality Taylor had grown up in, a patient with a gunshot wound would definitely have received a blood transfusion after the blood loss she had suffered a few hours ago. The patient would also have to rest a lot and have the help of strong pain medication.

Taylor could still not understand how the papers she had written before had just set aflame once the commander had tried to read them. She knew that a wound like she had suffered today was dangerous. She did not have access to antibiotics. If an inflammation sat in, she knew that she was utterly screwed, so, she was extremely determined to note down all which she thought might be useful as long as she was still able to do so. Taylor had wasted very little thought to the possibility that her second attempt of writing down her information may just be a waste as well.

What if the papers set aflame again when Lexa tried to read them?

Taylor hesitated while the pen was still shaking visibly in her hand. She looked up again and met the commander’s intense stare; it seemed as if the younger woman was still somehow waiting for a reaction from her.

“L…” Taylor broke off immediately again, noting that she actually had not really even gotten permission to call the commander by her given name. The last thing she wanted was to affront the young leader by being disrespectful towards her. She cleared her throat awkwardly before she started to speak again “Commander, it…”.

Lexa interrupted her though, holding up a hand for a second “You can call me Lexa” she granted in a gracious tone, stepping closer to the bed and coming to a stop directly in front of Taylor, looking down at her attentively.

Taylor swallowed down the sudden lump lodged in her throat and she nodded with the hint of a smile on her lips. It somehow felt important that the commander allowed her the usage of her given name, she knew that this was not to be taken for granted. “Can you try and read that?” Taylor questioned, adding the “Lexa” in an almost reverent tone. 

Lexa inclined her head in agreement, holding out a hand mutely to receive the papers.

Taylor noticed that she in fact had only filled two pages. She was sure that more time must have passed already though. She ignored it and handed the first page over to the commander, holding her breath in anticipation of what would happen now.

Taylor blinked dumbly a few times. Just a second ago Lexa had given her a subtle smile and the very moment her green eyes had left her features and dropped down to the sheet of paper in her hand, one corner of the material had suddenly been burning. She knew that Lexa could have impossibly read more than one or two words of which she had noted down before the paper had set aflame.

She pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation “I don’t have an explanation why or how, but this is obviously not going to work” she breathed out in a frustrated tone. Taylor just wanted to help, but how could she possibly record her knowledge if her written words just set aflame if someone tried to read them.

Taylor shook her head slightly, letting her eyes drop to the other page left on her lap, she read over it without anything happening.

Lexa watched the blonde woman’s grey eyes move over the page after she had made sure that the burning piece of paper could not damage anything. She also was clueless about what was going on and she had never heard of such a strange occurrence either.

“Anya will be bringing you food soon” Lexa proclaimed, turning from the bed again. She had to get changed. She planned to speak to two Skykru which had been brought to their camp. One of the men had already been brought here the day before, but Anya’s return had degraded the importance of speaking to him.

Taylor nodded slightly and watched how Lexa suddenly began to change her clothing. It took her a moment to recognize what the commander dressed into, but once the younger woman put a dark scarf over her head, hiding most of her braids, Taylor suddenly recognized the outfit perfectly.

“Wait” she called out, sitting up a little tighter and immediately regretting it. White hot pain shot through her body and for a moment Taylor saw stars dancing in front of her vision. The hand with which she had reached out towards Lexa to make her pause, still hovered in the air, while Taylor tried to breathe through the flash of pain.

Her voice was notably strained once Taylor finally could form coherent words again “You are going to meet two Skykru. I recognize the clothes you wear to disguise you for a servant girl”.

Lexa raised a brow in surprise. She had only moments ago finalized the plan together with Gustus and a few other warriors. So, it was impossible for Taylor to have heard of her plans. The blonde doctor had only been in Anya’s company and her former mentor had not been informed either as of yet.

“One of the men you are going to meet…” Taylor just continued talking. If she could not write down what she knew then she would need to try and warn the commander in person whenever possible. She remembered the role Thelonious Jaha had played in the show very well. Taylor was not sure if the discovery of the city of light was actually important in such a way that it needed to happen, but what definitely should not have happened was unleashing ALIE. “… in the possible future I know of, he was basically caused a disaster” she tried to explain. She had not consciously chosen to say “the possible future”, but Taylor still needed to believe that the plot of the show did not have to play out and that it may be altered.

“A disaster” the commander echoed in slight confusion “another massacre on a village?” she asked for clarification a second later.

Taylor shook her head in the negative “No, he will discover the city of light” she answered.

Lexa’s brows furrowed together. She had read this term in one of the journals of the first commander, but no one actually knew what it meant. “Do you know what and where this city is?” she questioned, sitting down on the edge of the mattress; the Skykru men could wait a while longer for her. Right from the time of the first commander, people had tried to locate the city of light. It had grown into a myth now, a place of salvation. Lexa knew that especially those who were born with a tarnish were still seeking for this wonderous place beyond the Dead Zone, but no one had ever been successful to her knowledge.

Taylor bit at her lower lip slightly. She did not know on how to explain this. She was by no means any expert in computer things or artificial intelligence and she knew that Lexa probably would not even know what a simple computer was at all. So, how to explain to her what ALIE even was.

“The city of light is no actual physical place” Taylor finally settled on, fiddling with the pen in her hand nervously “I know that there are people searching for it”. Her memory flashed to Emori and her brother and the other grounder which had been shown there. People had already found it, but ALIE had not cooperated with any grounder really, apparently waiting for Skykru and their technology. “And people have already found it in a way” Taylor could basically see the confusion and even alarm settle on the commander’s features.

She sighed under her breath, shaking her head slightly “I am sorry, I am really not good at this, but… one of the men you are going to meet now. His name is Thelonious Jaha, he will be the one who actually discovers the city of light and he will bring something back from it. A piece of old technology from before the old world was destroyed.”

“And that is a problem?” Lexa obviously was trying to keep up, but Taylor highly doubted that the younger woman truly understood her currently.

Taylor nodded “Yes, what he brings back is called ALIE. It is an artificial intelligence…”.

“What…?” Lexa tried to interrupt the blonde woman, not having understood anything of her last words, but Taylor did not let her finish.

“The flame which you carry” Taylor said, locking her gaze with Lexa’s “it is basically the second version of ALIE. ALIE has an error, it recognized humanity as the problem and its solution was to wipe out the human population and bring them into the city of light. Which is just an illusion, it is not real”.

Lexa’s mind was slightly swimming and she highly hoped that she could speak to the first commander. She was not sure if Becca would show herself when she tried to access her memories. It astounded her immensely though that Taylor also knew about the flame. She pushed the surprise over this small detail from her mind though; it was just another hint that Taylor’s claim to know the future was true.

“If ALIE…” Lexa hesitated for a moment, trying to connect the pieces of information Taylor had just given her in her mind “…is brought back. This thing will then cause the disaster you mentioned, correct?”

Taylor nodded quickly. ALIE still was convinced that all humans had to die as far as she could tell and also it was out to destroy the second AI and thus in a way ALIE was also a danger to Lexa.

“And if Thelonious Jaha does not reach the city of light?” Lexa wondered out loud. Her green eyes had wandered through the tent deeply in thought.

Taylor did not quite know what to say to this question. She had already wondered herself how the “future” was changed if she managed to influence what she regarded as “key”-events. She was relatively sure that the power plants were already melting right now while they were speaking; the radiation level had just not climbed high enough yet for the grounders to notice. She knew that there was the bunker in which Octavia had reigned as the blood queen, while Clarke had survived the radiation wave as a newly made nightblood.

Could this be a solution?

If the grounders and Skykru could work together sooner and with Taylor’s knowledge would it be possible to synthesize enough nightblood to allow others to survive outside of the bunker.

Taylor went through the other possible places of where to survive the radiation wave which would come. The Mountain might be an option. She would just need to warn Lexa of Nia’s assassin destroying the Mountain or better probably was to make sure that Emerson would not fall into Nia’s hands.

With more time of forewarning and without ALIE at lose, the rest of the Ark could also function to house people for some time.

Then there also was the option of going to space.

Taylor’s had begun to swim with all the possibilities she had to think of now. The show had been filled with so many little things which had all added up to the disaster after Lexa’s death.

“I need to tell you far more than this” Taylor finally sighed, feeling the exhaustion settle into her body and mind “but I do not think that Jaha should reach the city of light. The danger of him setting lose ALIE is too high”.

Lexa inclined her head. Her expression clearly showed that she was still mulling over the information Taylor had just told her. “He will remain in custody then” she finally proclaimed.

Taylor nodded; she also was of the opinion that keeping Jaha somewhere guarded was the best solution. He would also try to make Skykru flee, telling them once again about how cruel the grounders were, making his people just a little more hostile towards the survivors of earth.

“Rest now, Yssa” Lexa finally said, standing up from the edge of the mattress.

Taylor appeared surprised for a moment and she frowned slightly. She could not remember to have told her nickname to the commander.

Lexa must have noticed her frown and the commander’s features showed just a tad bit of unsureness as she said “Anya told me this name. I …” in a low tone.

The corners of Taylor’s lips turned into a smile and she shook her head “You can call me Yssa as well, Lexa”.

The commander nodded once again, before she turned on her heels and left the tent without another word.

Taylor watched the tent flap fall close behind the younger woman. She glanced down again at the papers in her hand and she sighed. She had seen the page set aflame with her own eyes now. She doubted that it was only Lexa though. Somehow Taylor had the feeling that the same would happen for every other grounder as well. She would ask Anya to try and read the other page once the general returned.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Taylor did not know how long she was alone in the tent. She also had not noticed just how very tired she had been.

Some time later, she was roused again by Anya.

The general was bent over her and shaking her shoulder slightly, while her expression clearly showed her worry.

Taylor blinked her grey eyes open slowly. Her mind felt heavy and slow with exhaustion and she had not noticed that she had fallen asleep at all.

“You look extremely pale” Anya assessed in a curt tone. The general still held a plate with food in her other hand. She placed it on the small table next to the bed for now, where a steaming cup with tea was already waiting for Taylor “Locating healing herbs took longer than anticipated” she added after a few seconds.

Taylor just inclined her head tiredly. She hissed under her breath as she tried to upright herself fully. Her senses may still be slow, but the pain ripped through her so strongly that she could not breathe for a moment and most definitely not form any words.

“Here…” Anya of course had noticed the blonde woman’s struggle and she immediately reached out to help her. As gentle as she could, she put her arms right under Taylor’s armpits and pulled her fully upright. It was obvious though that the movement was highly painful to Taylor. The speed in which her features drained of all residual colour, alarmed Anya greatly.

Next, she took up the cup with tea from the bedside table and carefully handed it over to Taylor. It appeared to her as if the blonde doctor was close to fainting again and she definitely needed to eat before that happened. Anya knew that a body needed a lot of sleep to heal, but it also needed nourishment.

Anya took up the few pages of paper lying next to Taylor on the mattress. She guessed that they had slipped from her form while she had fallen asleep earlier. She placed those on the bedside table as well and sat down there, ready to reach out and help Taylor again if necessary.

Taylor took a few sips from the tea in silence, waiting for the strong sensation of pain to slightly fade into the background of her mind. She had wanted to tell Anya not to put the pages away, but she just needed a few moments to gather her focus again.

The tea was bitter and definitely not any brew Taylor would have chosen for herself. She had always preferred fruity tea and definitely not this kind of herb tea. During her medical studies she had only gathered very little knowledge about natural healing methods. She had always known that she wished to work in a modern hospital, using standard up-to-date methods and not natural methods of healing.

Now that Taylor was in this reality where electricity and modern technology were not accessible, she wished that she had visited a few classes about natural healing methods. She knew that a lot of her medical knowledge would not be applicable here at all.

If Lexa decided to keep her alive, maybe it would be possible to learn from one of the resident healers here, Taylor mused internally.

Once Taylor had finished half of the cup, she gingerly gave it back to Anya “I’ll try some food” she said in a strained tone. She gave the general a thankful smile when the older woman reached over for the plate of food.

Taylor inspected the food for a moment. There was mostly some kind of meat on the plate. Thankfully, she was not a vegetarian, like her best friend was. She did not recognize what she assumed to be vegetables of some kind. There was also a piece of bread on the plate.

She had not been given any utensils though and after a short moment of contemplation, Taylor just reached out and took up a piece of meat with her fingers.

“You are not used to eating with your hands” Anya observed the doctor handling the food delicately.

Taylor frowned slightly, but nodded in agreement “I am used to always using a folk and a knife or such” she explained easily.

“I can fetch you some, if you pre…” Anya was quick to offer, already in the process of getting up from the bed again.

But Taylor shook her head in denial, assuring the general quickly that she could eat without them as well. If she ate spareribs, she would eat those with her fingers as well after all. The vegetables all seemed to be raw still and Taylor found those easier to eat with her fingers. She often had eaten assorted crudités for dinner before.

“You are looking slightly better already” Anya assessed when she accepted the mostly emptied plate back from Taylor. She had to remind the blonde doctor though that the tea was not finished yet.

Taylor slightly pulled a face at the bitter brew. Now that the tea had mostly cooled down, the flavour had just intensified. Taylor noticed that the herbs were still covering the bottom of the mug, which explained why it just tasted vile now.

She had to agree though that the food and the tea was already enhancing her well-being. Taylor could still feel the pain in her abdomen, but she felt stronger now and could focus once again.

She reached out towards the bedside table, but immediately regretted the movement. It pulled on her abdomen and she hissed loudly at the intensified sensation.

Anya furrowed her brows in alarm “What do you need?” she asked immediately. She was still sitting beside the other woman, so, there was no reason for Taylor to have to move at all, she was very well able to fetch the doctor anything she would need at this moment.

Taylor had a crooked smile on her lips, when she pointed towards the pages Anya had put onto the table “Try to read it, please?” she asked the general while her tone was once again strained.

Anya was obviously confused by that request, but she did not question it any further as she reached out and retrieved the pages.

The same scene repeated itself though. Anya had barely lowered her brown eyes onto the written words in her hands, when the paper suddenly sat itself aflame.

Anya quickly got up, letting the burning page drop and stomping the small fire out before anything else inside the tent could begin to burn as well.

Taylor watched the general with a sigh under her breath. It was just as she had feared. The other pages Anya still held, the ones which were empty as of yet, were completely unscathed. It obviously was impossible for her to record her knowledge of the show in form of writing. She did not understand how this was possible. To her logical scientific mind, this phenomenon made absolutely no sense.

She could only conclude that it was obviously impossible for one of the grounders to read about what she knew would or might happen.

“Exactly this happened before…” Anya observed in a puzzled tone, looking down at the little bit of ashes with furrowed brows.

Taylor nodded, feeling defeated slightly. “Lexa has tried to read another page before you returned” she told the general in a sad voice “The same happened…” she trailed off, looking down at her hands.

“But how is this possible?” Anya asked. She knew how a fire worked. You had lit numerous fires in her life, too many to count. But never had she seen something just suddenly ignite in flames like this and definitely not a single sheet of paper.

Taylor shook her head; she could not explain it after all. She only knew what it meant. If she wanted to help and try to save Lexa’s life and other grounders, then she would need to stay alive and be there to warn to the commander of what would happen. She could of course try telling all of the events to the commander, but who knew just how many details she would be forgetting. Or if she mixed something up.

Somehow the knowledge that she would have to stay alive to help, filled Taylor’s eyes with tears all of a sudden.

Anya watched the blonde woman’s expression crumble in alarm. She did not understand what could have possibly upset her like this and although she did not know well on how to comfort someone in tears, she gingerly sat down again on the edge of the mattress, reaching out and carefully patting Taylor’s shoulders in what she hoped would be a soothing gesture.

She did not know though if her attempts at comfort were doing anything as tears started to fall down Taylor’s cheeks only a few seconds later.

The blonde doctor seemed to lose most of her strength again and she slumped forward, right into Anya’s chest, still crying.

Anya carefully wound her arms around Taylor’s form. The other woman was a few inches shorter than herself and her forehead seemed to fit perfectly against her collarbone.

~ ~ ~

Anya did not know for sure just how long she had held Taylor while the doctor cried. She did not know what had upset her, so, she was clueless on what words my sooth her. Thus, the general had kept silent, hoping that mute solitude would help the other woman regardless.

After some time, Anya had noticed how Taylor had slumped even further, obviously having fallen asleep again. As gently as possible, Anya extracted herself from the doctor. In her sorrow, the blonde woman had clutched the general’s shirt in her hands.

Thankfully, Anya did not wake Taylor up as she softly tilted her backwards, quickly pulling out a few of the additional pillows.

Anya pulled a fur over the doctor’s sleeping form, tucking her in slightly. The sight of the tear tracks on the other woman’s cheeks unsettled her in a way which Anya did not understand just yet.

After a few moments of observing that Taylor’s chest was still rising and falling rhythmical with each breath the woman took, Anya gathered the plate and cup, bringing it back to where it belonged. The commander’s tent was under guard now, so, Taylor would be fine without her for a while.

Anya wandered through the camp aimlessly for a few moments. She knew that Lexa was with the Skykru prisoners still or the commander would have already returned to her tent.

Anya sighed under her breath, since the first invaders had fallen from the sky, her life had changed so quickly.

She had lost her second during the first attempt of attacking the invaders. If Tris was here now, Anya surely would have a training session with the girl now.

In all truth, Anya had not taken any time to mourn for the young girl. She knew that Tris would have made a fine warrior. The girl had been courageous and undoubtedly talented. She had already earned her first kill marks and there was no doubt in Anya’s mind. The girl would have made it to the position of a general one day if she had chosen to.

Anya felt anger against Skykru flare up inside of her again. Of course, she could not blame the invaders for having been held captive by the Mountain Men.

As soon as she thought about the Mountain Men, her rage came to a boiling point though. With an angry snarl escaping from between her clenched lips, Anya kicked a rock away from herself.

The memories of her own people being encaged inside of this room in the Mountain played in front of Anya’s eyes again.

She had seen seconds being captured together with their mentors. The younger warriors, not even adults yet, had all but died after one or at most two bleedings, being hung up like baby goats ready for slaughter.

The stronger warriors like herself had been held captive within this rooms for several days, being injected with something again and again. Anya had felt her strength waning with each day she had been there and she honestly did not even know just how many days she had been encaged there.

She knew that her strength was not back yet. Anya thinned her lips, resigning herself to the fact that she needed to train more again. She knew that there was a war brewing now. Right now, she did not even care all that much if they would fight again Skykru or against the Mountain, as long as they would fight soon.

Anya marched over to where she saw other warriors training, demanding in an angered tone that someone gave her a sword. She engaged in sparring fights with whoever was up to it.

For some unknown reason, thoughts of just having comforted Taylor invaded the general’s mind time and time again, making her just a tad bit careless, suffering a few minor cuts in the process.

Soon enough, Anya was panting hard with sweat literally running down her face. The fact how quickly she felt weaker, only fuelled her anger and pushed her to fight longer, ignoring the signs of her body to rest. No matter what it would take, she would be back to her strength when the battle began.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lexa huffed under her breath in annoyance once she left the holding cell.

Behind her, Thelonious Jaha was dragged into another smaller cell, where the man would remain for the time being.

Everything had played out exactly in the way in which Taylor had described it to her beforehand. Markus Kane had indeed shown a true desire for peace between their people. He had been ready to sacrifice his own life if it meant saving his own people. Meeting this man, made Lexa hope that there indeed was a hope to work together with Skykru peacefully to bring down the Mountain.

Meeting Jaha though had left an extremely foul taste in Lexa’s mouth. The man was arrogant to the bone, thinking his people were superior to her own, simply because Skykru had retained technology which her own people had lost. The man had also fully fallen for her fluke, attacking her in the hopes that they would let both him and Kane free in exchange for her life. The man obviously was not willing to sacrifice anything, he was selfish and thought his people were entitled for survival on earth. He did appear completely blind to the fact that Skykru had invaded land which belonged to Trikru.

Lexa’s lips thinned, if she indeed had been just a mere servant girl, she would have readily died for her commander. Jaha’s intentions would have resulted in nothing else than the death of all three of them.

She had told Markus Kane, that she would be speaking to him alone later today. After the massacre in the village they had observed with Taylor, there would be no peace between their people if the responsible boy would not see justice.

Lexa was on the way back to her tent. She planned to move her troops to surround the invaders camp, proofing that the threat she wanted Markus Kane to deliver to his people was true. She also wanted to show to all of her people that she had not lost faith in Anya as a general, so, her former mentor would be responsible to spread word of their impending move of camp and lead the organisation of it.

~ ~ ~

When Taylor woke up again, she was alone in the commander’s tent. A blush dusted over her cheeks, when the memories of what had happened previously returned to her. She sighed under her breath, lightly messaging her forehead for a moment.

She hoped that Anya was not thinking less of her now. Although the other woman had tried to comfort her, Taylor still was cautious. The general’s arms had felt good around her form and she had felt sheltered by her closeness.

Taylor slightly shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She needed to remain focused on what was about to happen.

She looked over to the tent flaps in sudden alarm, when she remembered what happened next in the show. Trikru had surrounded the Skykru camp, demanding Finn’s life in retribution. Clarke would also meet Lexa for the first time.

As the pictures of this particular scene flashed back before Taylor’s internal eyes, she clenched her lips. Emotions were suddenly burning under her skin, too intense and too mixed up to pinpoint.

She shook her head again, carefully sitting up beneath the furs. She needed to tell Lexa and Anya about what would be happening during the next days. Trikru would never be able to take down the Mountain alone, even with her knowledge it would be impossible. Trikru and Skykru needed to work together, it was essential if the killing by the Mountain was supposed to stop.

Taylor quickly noticed that the tea was obviously still effective. Sitting up felt uncomfortable and there was a deep pain in her stomach, but it wasn’t as blinding and all-consuming as before. Eating and having gotten at least some rest, had given her enough strength now to carefully slide her legs over the edge of the mattress.

Cautiously, Taylor tried standing up from the bed. The pain which shot through her stomach when she fully stood upright, took her breath away for a second, but it thankfully faded into a background sensation quickly enough.

Taylor saw the tent flap being opened, as she made a few careful steps crossing through the tent. Her legs felt weak and she doubted that it would take long before she would be dizzy, but it was already an improvement.

~ ~ ~

Lexa’s brows furrowed together when she spotted Taylor standing on visibly shaky feet in the middle of the tent. She immediately rushed over to the other woman, reaching out a hand towards one of her elbows and gently steadying the doctor.

“You should be resting” she admonished the blonde woman in a slightly sharp tone. With the way that Taylor could not write down her knowledge, her survival had suddenly become extremely important. No commander ever had access to knowledge of what might happen in the future and Lexa hoped that this could help her people.

Taylor gave the commander a weak smile “I am okay” she assured her, looking into her intense green eyes for a moment.

Lexa’s features softened when their eyes met. She would have liked the doctor’s skin to look less pale, but it was a good sign that she had managed to stand up alone. She obviously was stronger than it appeared on first glance. Lexa tried to remind herself that she mostly needed for the doctor to survive to help her for her people.

Lexa nodded curtly to the blonde woman. She still held onto her elbow, although it was obvious that she did not need the physical support to remain standing. “Has Anya told you where she is right now?” she asked the doctor in a kind tone.

Taylor slightly shook her head in the negative. She had cried herself to sleep in the general’s arms; Anya literally did not have a chance to tell her of what she wanted to do now. She blushed slightly again.

Lexa furrowed her brows, unsure why Taylor was blushing right now. Was she making the doctor uncomfortable with her close proximity or had something happened between her and Anya? For a moment she considered asking her, but discarded the idea again.

She let her hand fall from the woman’s elbow, taking a slight step back from her to give her space “I will search for her” she announced promptly, already beginning to turn on her heel.

“Wait…” Taylor spoke up quickly.

Only the fact that Lexa had stopped in her movement showed that the commander had caught Taylor’s word at all “You can come, if you wish” she offered, not waiting to listen to what the doctor had actually wanted.

Taylor gave the commander a slight nod. She knew that some fresh air and movement would be good for her body, she only needed to take things slow and not overexert her body.

Although Lexa did not turn around to Taylor, she still waited patiently for the doctor to follow her out of her tent, keeping her steps deliberately slower as they walked through the camp. She continued to throw a few glances at the blonde woman. It seemed that she was getting paler quickly.

Taylor was occupied enough with keeping her breathing regular and placing her feet carefully on the ground, that she did not speak up again, only following Lexa in strained silence.

Lexa already guessed where Anya would have gone to. The camp wasn’t large and from a distance she could already spot a crowd having formed around the free spot used for training in their camp.

She frowned though when she noticed how a few of the younger and more inexperienced seconds were visibly nursing fresh wounds.

Lexa’s lips thinned once they stood directly next to the training pits.

Anya was standing in the middle, looking around with determined eyes. Her features showed how much she had exerted herself already, but the stubbornness was also clearly written within the hard gleam of her brown eyes. She would not stop until someone matched her strength and forced her to, or until she passed out from exhaustion.

From a logical point of view Lexa knew that Anya must be trying to proof her strength by this, but she knew that the damage would be worse if she collapsed.

When she spotted Indra on the other side of the free space, obviously making herself ready to take down Anya, Lexa stepped forward herself. “Stay here” she quickly said to Taylor, she knew that Gustus would keep watch of the blonde doctor for her; no one would dare to attack the woman now.

Lexa circled Anya for a little while, easily testing her former mentor’s defence with a few quick strikes, not hard enough to seriously push her yet.

Taylor watched the two women circle each other with unease, remembering how she had just witnessed Clarke and Anya fighting each other. Already from where she was standing, she could see a few fresh wounds oozing blood on the general’s exposed arms.

The attacks got more aggressive quickly and Taylor winced visibly with each loud clang of metal on metal. The movements were so quick, that Taylor had difficulties to actually spot if the two women were hurting each other or just testing the other.

With each second ticking by, Taylor also realized that the time was passing. She needed to tell Anya and Lexa about what would happen between Trikru and Skykru. She was afraid that Anya’s survival alone might have already switched up things too much.

Taylor’s startled strongly when she spotted Anya giving a wince. The commander’s sword had sliced into one of her sides and red blood was coating the shining metal visibly. Her grey eyes watched the fight agitatedly, she wanted them to stop fighting. She knew of course that this was only a training, but it made her feel uneasy. Anya needed to rest her body from what she had gone through in the Mountain and fighting Clarke and not aggravate it further.

Lexa caught the doctor’s gaze. A part of herself had hoped to find the other woman looking at her in astonishment or even admiration and she was taken off guard by the obvious uneasiness within her grey eyes.

The commander returned her attention to the general, readying herself to end this training fight by disarming the older woman.

Although Anya was internally puzzled why Lexa disarmed her with a determined expression, she did not say anything when she noticed the younger woman’s gaze returning to Taylor standing among the other spectators.

She accepted the commander’s hand pulling her back onto her feet and she ignored the wound on her side stinging painfully as she nodded to her former second in a gesture of respect. She would have chosen to continue to spar, but sparring with the commander should have done what she had intended as well. Her feet almost automatically carried her over to the blonde doctor, inspecting her pale and drawn features critically.

“You should be resting” the general immediately said, worry evident within her tone.

Taylor slightly raised a brow at the older woman, as if she wanted to retort “So should you”, but she was clever enough not to voice this here out loud. “I need to speak to both of you” she instead said in a low tone.

Anya nodded her head in acknowledgement, turning back around to hand over the sword someone had lend her to the rightful owner.

Lexa had stepped closer to the doctor in the meanwhile and her expression was visibly unsure as she met the blonde’s gaze. She had heard her proclaim that she wished to speak to herself and the general, so, she made a waving motion towards the way back with one of her hands.

She had not acquired more than a few scratches and one or two shallow grazes of her skin during the fight with Anya. The general was also still standing upright easily, Lexa was worried about Taylor though. Somehow, she felt as if the doctor should not just have had to witness the training fight.

It appeared to her as if Taylor had paled even further, thus, Lexa reached out, steadying the other woman by gripping one of her elbows in a gentle grip.

Taylor did not say against this and her features relaxed slightly, although she was still worried about what would happen with Skykru.

“I am sorry that you had to witness…” Lexa stopped for a moment, unsure on what to say exactly “…this” she finished lamely.

Surprised by the commander’s apology, Taylor gave the other woman a weak smile in response, feeling her cheeks heating up as she blushed under the woman’s attentive gaze.

Anya stepping up to both of them, broke up the little intimate moment and Taylor’s grey eyes immediately went to the general’s side “That needs to be dressed” she asserted, all professional again. The general had also heard the commander apologize to Taylor. Now that she inspected her expression, she noticed how unsettled the doctor appeared. 

Although Lexa noticed Anya’s brown eyes narrowing down on her hand still steadying Taylor, she did not remove her fingers, jutting out her chin just the slightest bit at the older woman. Anya narrowed her eyes even further and the apology on the tip of her tongue remained unspoken as her stomach filled with sudden anger. The general hardened her gaze at the her former second, she would not back away from Taylor either.

The small exchange went by unnoticed by Taylor and the way to the commander’s tent passed in silence.

“What had you wanted to speak to us about?” Lexa asked immediately as the tent flap fell closed behind them a little while later, letting go finally of the doctor.

Taylor first asked for a dressing for Anya’s wound, ordering the general to take of her shirt. The alcohol which still stood on the table, could be used to clean the wound as well.

Anya took off her shirt without any protest and Taylor watched her muscles flex under her sun-kissed skin, taking in the tattoo etched into her skin with interest.

Lexa observed Taylor’s expression and the way in which she scanned the general’s body with a sour taste in her mouth. She shook her head though, realizing how foolish she was behaving. Taylor was inspecting Anya for wounds, that was surely all.

Once Taylor had cleaned the general’s wound – the one on her side was deepest one – she assessed it “It does not need stitches” she said in relieve. She began wrapping a bandage around the general’s torso, ignoring her own pain at the increased movement within her own body.

“Once you will have moved your army to surround Arkadia…” Taylor finally looked over to Lexa.

The commander’s brows furrowed together in surprise. She had told no one of her plans yet to move the troops to surround the Skykru’s camp and even she had not known the name “Arkadia”.

Taylor’s eyes twinkled with amusement when she spotted how puzzled Lexa appeared for a moment. It seemed the woman was still caught of guard by how deeply her knowledge of the future went. She did not comment on it though, instead, she told both, Lexa and Anya, about the impending meeting with Clarke and how the other blonde woman would bargain with Lexa.

Anya listened to the doctor’s words intently. She also noticed though how strained her tone appeared and how a sheen of sweat was shining on her forehead. It was obvious that the blonde woman was on the verge of collapsing.

“You can tell us what Clarke will say once we get there” she interrupted the doctor finally in concern “You need to rest”.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When Taylor woke up the next time, she had not recollection of how long she may have slept already. She got back into a sitting position carefully. Before she had agreed to lie down again, Lexa had another tea delivered to the tent for her. It seemed that it had either been stronger than the last one or she was already beginning to feel physically better again.

Taylor got back down from the bed, looking around and spotting Lexa within the tent as well. It seemed as if the commander was sorting through some of her things. She could not see Anya within the tent though.

Lexa looked over her shoulder when she caught the sounds of the movements Taylor made behind her. She noticed with the slightest frown how the blonde doctor seemed to be searching for something within the tent.

Lexa’s stomach coiled a little when she concluded that Taylor was not searching for something, but most likely rather looking for someone, namely, looking for Anya.

She pushed the feeling away for now though “Anya is leading the preparations right now” she said in a casual tone.

Taylor nodded with a slight smile “I forgot” she retorted with a huff.

“You can rest until the camp will be broken” the commander offered with a pointed look back to her own bed.

Taylor shook her head in the negative though “I am feeling better already”. She carefully took a few steps through the tent in Lexa’s direction. There was still some pain, but it was bearable.

The commander must have changed her clothing again as well and Taylor immediately spotted a few gashes on her exposed arms. For a few seconds she was startled by the darkness of Lexa’s blood until she remembered that the woman of course had black blood as a nightblood.

“Your wounds have not been cleaned?” Taylor asked in an attentive tone, stepping closer to the brunette.

Lexa looked up from her things again with a slight frown; none of her wounds were deep enough to warrant any need for attention of a healer. She knew that all the gashes would heal up soon enough on their own.

When she met Taylor’s probing grey-eyed gaze, Lexa shook her head in the negative.

“Let me?” Taylor asked then as her eyes flitted back over the visible wounds on the commander’s body.

Lexa slightly furrowed her brows “That is not necessary” she reassured the blonde woman.

Taylor gnawed at her lower lip for a moment before she finally said “That’s the least I can do and it would make me feel better”.

“Alright” Lexa inclined her head in agreement, standing up fully.

“Are there any more wounds?” Taylor asked in a professional tone.

Lexa nodded, knowing that Anya had gotten a hit in against her flank. She got out of her shirt quickly, letting the piece of clothing drop to the ground for now.

Taylor already had taken up the small flask filled with alcohol, ready to clean out the leader’s wounds. She stood slightly behind the woman and her eyes were immediately drawn to the tattoo etched into the other woman’s back. She could not see the whole tattoo because Lexa was wearing a sort of cloth bound around her upper body.

Anya returned to the commander’s tent without any kind of announcement and the general remained standing within the opened tent flaps for a few seconds. Jealousy pooled hotly within the pit of her stomach at the sight which greeted her. The way in which Taylor was looking at Lexa did not sit right with her. She wondered if the doctor had been looking at her in the same way before.

The general finally cleared her throat, making her presence known to Taylor as well as she knew that Lexa long would have noticed her entrance of the tent.

“The camp will be ready to leave within the hour” she proclaimed in a neutral tone.

Taylor threw a short glance over her shoulder at the general’s words, giving the older woman the hint of a smile, before she turned back towards Lexa. She knew that it would be better for her wound to heal longer undisturbed, but she was also well enough to make the journey. Her stitches had held her short walk through the camp earlier, so, Taylor was confident that although the journey which would undoubtedly be covered by horse, would be uncomfortable she would survive it.

“I don’t think that I can ride alone” Taylor spoke up in a soft tone, while she gently cleaned out the wound on the commander’s flank, feeling the heat emanating from her skin beneath her fingertips.

“Can you even ride?” Anya asked with a slight raise of a brow. Judging from the way how the doctor had moved through the woods to the camp a few days prior, she highly doubted that Taylor would be used to horses either.

Taylor’s expression confirmed Anya’s doubt. “Well…” she said in an unsure tone “…I did have a few riding lessons as a kid, but…” she let her words tail off with a loop-sided smile.

“You will ride with me” Lexa immediately decided in a strong tone.

“Yssa can also…” Anya tried to offer, but was interrupted by her former second shaking her head in the negative before she even could have finished her offer.

Taylor finished attending to the commander’s wounds quickly, giving the younger woman a slight smile “You can dress again” she said officially. Normally, she would have bend down herself to pick up the shirt for Lexa, but she also did not wish to put unnecessary stain on her own wound.

A handmaid entered the commander’s tent a few moments later. Lexa had asked before to search through the camp for a coat for Taylor, the dark sweater she was wearing, was hardly suitable to withstand their weather for long.

“Commander, I have found a coat which will fit her” the handmaid said in a kind tone, keeping her eyes lowered to the ground of the tent respectfully “Do you need any help packing?” she asked kindly.

Lexa told her to place the coat on the bed and leave again. Her tent would be broken down after they left and the contents would be delivered later as well.

Taylor looked at the coat in interest. It was clearly a long leather coat and she was fascinated by the many clasps and metal accessories added to it.

“It is for you” Lexa explained with a slight frown as she thought it would have been obvious enough.

“I don’t need…” Taylor tried to deflect the offered piece of clothing out of habit, not used to accepting things as a gift just like this.

“Your clothes are not suitable for the weather here” Lexa evenly countered “we will arrange for a set of thicker clothes later in addition”.

~ ~ ~

Taylor followed Anya out of the commander’s tent only a short while later. She had taken another dose of the tea and Lexa had given her a few dried herbs which she could chew during the journey to ease any pain which may flare up, while the commander got dressed in her full gear.

“If you do not want to ride with Lexa, I can take you on my horse as well” Anya suddenly broke the silence between them.

Taylor slightly furrowed her brows; the general was not looking directly in her direction and she guessed that Lexa had only offered this because Anya was still recovering as well. “It is okay” Taylor finally retorted in a soft tone, not wanting to affront the general.

Her attention was quickly diverted from the general to the small enclosure holding a variety of horses. A brown horse immediately looked towards Anya, flicking its ears and trotting over.

The last time Taylor had been close to a horse, was over twenty years ago now. Back then, the animals had seemed enormous to her.

Taylor watched with a slight smile as Anya stepped closer to her horse, greeting the animal in person. She could not understand what the older woman was saying to the steed, but it was obvious that the woman was happy to be reunited with her mount. She waited respectfully for Anya to turn her attention back from the horse.

Anya’s expression was uncharacteristically soft when she finally turned around to look back at Taylor, while she still scratched over her horse’s soft nose. “Come here” she motioned the blonde doctor closer, stretching out her free hand for Taylor.

Taylor blinked for a second before she placed one of her own hands right into Anya’s outstretched palm.

The general gently pulled her a little closer to the horse, bringing both of their hands closer and letting her horse sniff at the doctor’s fingers.

Taylor let out a slight giggle as the horse’s large puffs of breath tickled her fingers. At the same time, she was very aware of how close she stood to Anya now, if she stepped just a single bit closer, their bodies would be pressed together.

She glanced up at Anya and felt a blush beginning to heat up her cheeks.

Suddenly someone else behind them cleared their throat rather loudly and Taylor immediately took a slight step away from Anya.

Taylor threw a glance up at Anya and only flittingly caught anger passing over the woman’s features, when she turned around and spotted Lexa in full commander regalia standing opposite of them, she noticed the same anger within her green eyes for a moment, before the commander’s expression fell blank again.

“It is time to leave” Lexa proclaimed in an apparently tightly controlled tone.

Taylor was not sure on what to say, but she could feel the slight lingering aggression between the commander and the general. She did not know where this animosity was coming from though. The show never had showed both women together. The first time in which Lexa appeared, Anya had already been dead. So, Taylor could not be sure if this had been between them before or if she somehow had caused this tension.

“I will help you up” Anya offered before anything else could be said and the tension thankfully seemed to diminish mostly.

Only a moment later, Anya helped to hoist Taylor up onto a large black horse, while Lexa seemed to hush a few soothing words into the horse’s ears.

Taylor bit her lips together harshly. She knew that it was not Anya’s fault but the motion really hurt on her wound.

Lexa had still caught the groan the blonde doctor had obviously tried very hard to keep between her lips. The woman had paled several degrees and her horse was trampling in place in agitation when Taylor’s hands closed around strands of the horse’s mane in clenched fists.

“Easy there” Lexa quickly moved from the front of her horse to Taylor and placed her own hands around the doctor’s clenched fingers.

Taylor opened her eyes again, breathing through her mouth against the pain and she forced her fingers to relax under the blanketing warmth of the commander’s hands. “I am okay” she assured in a slightly breathless tone.

“Are you sure?” Lexa questioned in a kind tone, looking up at the doctor with worried eyes.

Taylor nodded in agreement; she also wanted to be there when Clarke and Lexa met. She knew what would happen during the next days and she had no idea how different things could play out now that Anya was still alive. Would Clarke still offer the knowledge to cure the reapers?

Lexa mounted the horse quickly in one fluid motion.

Sharing a horse with the commander was awkward to Taylor. To her it seemed as if Lexa was being cautious to uphold a slight distance between them, so, she herself was sitting rigidly upright in the front of the saddle.

Gustus was riding on one side of the commander, while Anya had led her horse to walk on Lexa’s other side.

Lexa was conversing with Gustus in Trigedasleng as the guard was worried for his commander’s safety. He also found it highly inappropriate that she was sharing a horse with Taylor and her offered to take the woman onto his horse instead, which Lexa immediately declined in a rather harsh tone.

Once their conversation fell silent after that comment, Lexa turned the attention towards the doctor in front of her, noticing how uncomfortable the blonde appeared.

“You can relax” she bent forward slightly, so that she could speak her assurance directly into Taylor’s ears “You are safe with me” Lexa added on instinct.

Taylor turned her head a little bit, looking back at the commander, while she cautiously let her body relax.

Lexa seemed to catch on to what Taylor was doing immediately and scooted a little closer to her in the saddle, so that her arms rested lightly against the doctor’s sides.

Taylor finally let herself rest back fully, so that her back fell against the commander’s front. She had to tilt her head forwards or it would collide with the other woman’s large shoulder piece.

After some time of riding in silence, Taylor decided to use the herbs Lexa had given her beforehand. She had not known though that the herbs would make her sleepy quickly as well.

Lexa expected it though and already waited to adjust the doctor’s sagging body to rest more comfortably against her own.

“Is she alright?” Anya asked from the side with her brown eyes clearly worried.

Lexa nodded in agreement “She will wake up again once we are there. She needs the rest” while she kept her tone kind on purpose.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Once Taylor woke up the next time, she was still highly groggy. It took her a few moments to realize that she was in fact not on a horse with the commander any longer, but instead again lying on a soft and very sturdy bed, covered with a bunch of furs.

Taylor blinked her eyes open, still clueless as to where she was and how long she could have been asleep. She looked around without making a sound, taking in her surroundings. She realized that she was in a tent again and a moment later, Taylor recognized the commander’s tent from the show. It was exactly the set up in which Clarke walked in, speaking with Lexa for the first time.

She sat up in the bed, realizing that at this moment she was alone in the tent. It was beyond herself, how she could have slept through the whole journey and obviously the erection of the camp as well.

Taylor got down from the bed and noticed with a satisfied short smile that the pain in her abdomen had lessened noticeably. She crossed through the tent with quick steps, pushing the frail material of the tent flap out of the way.

Had the show down between Lexa and Clarke already taken place?

She could only hope now that she was not too late. Thus far, she had only told Lexa and Clarke that there would be a meeting, but not about Lincoln and what would happen afterwards.

Taylor was surprised to nearly collide with Anya and Lexa who obviously were just returning to the commander’s tent. It obviously was not morning yet and it was still dark outside.

“What did I miss?” she asked in a low tone, spotting Gustus and a second guard she could not identify standing as guards outside.

Lexa brushed past her and motioned her back inside of the tent, followed by Anya.

“Markus Kane has just been sent back to his people with the message that they are to leave my lands” Lexa proclaimed in an easy tone.

“And Jaha?” Taylor asked with a raise of a brow. She remembered from the show how the man had been absolutely for the plan to abandon the camp and leave the kids in Mount Weather basically to die.

“He is in custody in one of the tents under guard, where he will remain until he can be transferred to Polis” Anya answered the question as she had been the one to oversee his temporary accommodation.

Taylor nodded in slight acknowledgement, feeling a little reassured that Jaha was taken care of and kept secure. She was still of the opinion that the conflict with ALIE was not allowed to happen.

“And you gave them until the morning to leave?” Taylor turned to Lexa, looking at the commander expectedly.

Lexa nodded in agreement, not longer surprised that the blonde doctor already knew of her strategic decisions without having been told of them.

Taylor knew that right at this moment, Clarke most likely was at the Drop Ship helping Bellamy and Octavia to take care of Lincoln while he was under the influence of the reaper drug.

“Clarke will come here demanding an audience just as their time runs out” Taylor finally said and broke the silence in the tent.

Both, Lexa and Anya, had been looking at the doctor, waiting patiently. Now, both of them seemed surprised by the boldness such a move required.

“They would dare to march here and demand an audience?” Lexa echoed with a raised brow.

Anya’s mind was in turmoil as well. She remembered how Taylor had told her before, that in the future she had seen, she had been shot in front of the Ark and still Clarke had managed to talk to the commander without her influence. She was honestly impressed by that.

Taylor inclined her head before she explained “Right now, Clarke is in the process of figuring out how to cure a reaper….”

“What?” Lexa interrupted her with a doubtful expression. Many of their healers had tried capturing Reapers and turning them back into human beings, but all of their attempts had been futile and the Reapers had died. As far as they knew, there simply was no cure.

Taylor nodded her head “Clarke has recognized that the Mountain Men turn your people into Reapers by the injection of a drug. She is able to keep the Reapers alive until they are off this drug. She will use this as a bargain for her people. All she wants, is to unite forces with your people to get hers out of the Mountain.”

“They invaded our lands and now they massacred a village” Lexa retorted. She had to agree that finally conquering the Mountain Men which basically were at this point the coalition’s biggest enemy, was an appealing prospect. But she was not convinced that the costs of this were not too high. Taylor had also implicated that she herself would die. She knew how most of her progressors had found their deaths, namely, at the hands of their own people, often after a political decision which was not taken kindly. “A cease fire between the coalition and Skykru could cost me dearly” she finally formulated what she feared.

The way in which Taylor’s expression fell for a few seconds, before she could control herself, were answer enough for Lexa. Somehow, Skykru would be the reason for her death and she needed to be careful with them.

“Skykru tried capturing a Reaper?” Anya broke the sudden tension-filled silence again, not understanding why they would even attempt such a thing.

“Lincoln is the Reaper they are trying to save” Taylor tried to explain. She quickly enumerated how she knew about Lincoln having been captured by Skykru before and how the man had been captured by the Mountain and then turned into a Reaper. She explained about his feelings to Octavia and that the girl was now pleading Clarke to safe and help him.

“So, they find out about this by accident?” Lexa checked if she had understood the doctor correctly.

Taylor slightly tilted her head to the side in thought. In a way, that was indeed correct, so, she nodded her head in agreement.

She startled strongly, when outside suddenly the warriors started to chant. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck immediately stood up and her frame was shaken by a shiver. During the time she had been speaking with Lexa and Anya, the sun must have gone up slowly and thus, the time Skykru had to leave their camp peacefully was up. It would not take long now before Clarke demanded to speak to Lexa.

Taylor shortly bandied a glance with Anya.

The general had stepped closer to her and comfortingly placed a hand on one of her shoulders, obviously having seen the alarm in the doctor’s grey eyes.

“No one will harm you” the general assured her in a strong tone.

Taylor nodded again. It was not that she was afraid, but just that the sudden change in atmosphere had been so overwhelming to her. By now both, Lexa and Anya, had assured her separately that she would be safe and she believed them. She already felt safe in their presence.

Only a short moment later, Indra proclaimed her arrival at the commander’s tent, wanting to be allowed entrance.

Lexa walked over to her throne and sat down, calling in the guard Taylor did not know the name off, together with Indra.

The dark-skinned warrior had not been introduced to Taylor yet and the moment in which her dark eyes fell onto the blonde doctor, the warrior immediately reached for one of her weapons.

Anya quickly shoved Taylor behind herself protectively, meeting the other general’s angry stare in mute warning.

Lexa also got up immediately from the throne again “Indra, control yourself. Taylor is not a threat” she proclaimed in a sharp tone. One of the commander’s hands had closed around her dagger and she had taken a step in Anya’s and Taylor’s direction as if she wanted to interfere with Indra’s way.

Taylor looked slightly around Anya’s shoulder, being shorter than the general she was not able to look above her shoulder without standing on her toes. She was taken off-guard by the hostility which was edged deeply into the dark-skinned warriors features and out of instinct, she stepped the slightest bit closer to Anya and put a hand onto her back for contact.

“She looks like Skykru” Indra seemed to try to protect her aggression. She slowly let go of her weapon though.

“Taylor is not from Skykru” Lexa said in a firm tone, before Taylor could speak up for herself.

It was obvious that Indra was not convinced and Taylor could honestly not fault her for that. She knew that she stood out on first glance. She was no warrior and that was obvious in the way she carried herself. She had no visible tattoos like Trikru warriors either, neither any scars.

Indra still was suspicious and she obviously was on edge as well because she demanded to know who Taylor was then. “Is she Azgeda?” she hypothesized as her eyes narrowed on Anya as if she could see through the general to inspect the foreigner more closely.

“No” Lexa denied immediately, her tone hard. They still had not matched their stories of Taylor’s origin and she only knew of one thing which her people would not dare to question. Taylor would immediately be identified as a foreigner by the fact that she did not speak their language. It did not matter if her people would believe Taylor to be Skykru or maybe even from the Mountain, neither would be a good possibility. “Taylor is a blessing sent from the flame” she proclaimed vaguely “and thus, she is under the flame’s protection”.

Taylor could not see Indra’s reaction and she could only guess how surprised and probably doubtful the woman must be. If someone would tell her that some religious whatever thing had sent someone as a blessing, Taylor would have feared for the mental health of the speaker. She repeated what Lexa had said word for word within her mind a few times, knowing that she would need to stick to this now when she was asked about her origin.

She hoped that Clarke would not say anything. Taylor was not sure how much of what she had said to Anya during their first meeting had registered in Clarke’s mind. The blonde had been mostly occupied with trying to get away and Taylor had been careful with what she had said out loud. Still, Skykru could be a problem. In contrast to the people under Lexa’s command for whom the flame was something holy, Skykru would not buy this so easily. Taylor would need to be careful in front of them, so that they at best would not even think to question her origin.

Taylor had been so deep within her own thoughts, that she had completely missed Indra asking Lexa when they could finally begin the attack on Skykru, who obviously had not left. She relayed to the commander that the invaders had first prepared to leave and then suddenly changed their minds about it.

Anya turned slightly to take a look at Taylor who still had one hand pressed lightly against her back. She could not interpret the blonde’s expression exactly but she seemed agitated. In front of Indra’s watchful eyes, Anya did not dare to do more to reassure Taylor than allow their contact to persist for now.

Waiting for Clarke to arrive was nerve-wrecking to Taylor. The show had made it appear as if only moments passed, but time seemed to tick by slower now.

All the while, Taylor was worrying that Anya’s survival alone and the fact that Jaha was in custody of Trikru right now, had already changed too much and that Clarke either had failed to safe Lincoln or was not asking for an audience for another reason.

If Indra had not been in the tent together with this unknown guard, Taylor would have discussed her internal worries with Anya and Lexa, but she kept her tongue now.

~ ~ ~

“If you so much as look at her the wrong way…” Gustus’ voice penetrated the tent from outside.

Taylor breathed out a large bout of breath in relief, knowing that Clarke would enter the tent now. Her nerves were still frayed, Anya’s presence would undoubtedly change something and she could only hope that the general’s survival would influence something positive.

Taylor slightly stepped over to stand beside Anya. She wanted to see the exchange between Lexa and Clarke, trying to spot if there were differences or not.

Clarke looked exactly like Taylor remembered it from the show. The blonde had dressed back into her own clothes and the bruises left behind by Anya were visible on her fair complexion.

Clarke seemed relived to spot Anya standing on one side of the tent, she did not show a visible reaction to Taylor standing next to the general. She nodded slightly to the general before she turned her attention to the commander.

Lexa was sitting on the throne exactly like in the show, fiddling around with a dagger as if she was merely playing around. The silence lasted only for a tense short moment before Lexa finally looked at Clarke saying “You are the one who burned 300 of my warriors alive” in an almost casual tone.

“You are the one who sent them there to kill us” Clarke retorted, not wavering “Anya must have…” she tried, but Lexa interrupted her.

Taylor’s brows furrowed slightly, knowing that the dialogue between the two leaders was already changed now from the version she knew.

“Your people were told to leave my lands, yet, you are still here” Lexa assessed in a calm tone “My warriors are only waiting for the order to attack…” she let her words tail off in a threating tone.

“We can only bring down the Mountain Men together” Clarke said quickly. Her blue eyes flitted over to Anya as if she was seeking for help, but the general remained silent.

“All your people have brought so far after invading my land is death” Lexa said sharply and her green eyes bore into Clarke’s relentlessly “Your people have declared war on my people and after I give them the chance to leave peacefully, you chose to ignore that. What should keep me from annihilating your people now?”

“My people have knowledge of technology essential against the Mountain Men. I have been inside the Mountain and remember the layout” Clarke said quickly, obviously enumerating the arguments she had prepared beforehand “My people will be able to turn off the acid fog…”.

Taylor’s brows furrowed further. Clarke could not know yet that they would indeed find a way to do so, but she did not speak up. She had no idea what would happen if the cease fire between Skykru and Trikru did not come to be.

“… and your people are turned into Reapers by the Mountain Men” Clarke finished and her tone turned more convinced of what she was saying “We can turn them back”.

Just like in the show, Indra did not believe this at all. The general said word for word what Taylor still remembered and Lexa also kept her in check.

Taylor shuddered when Indra got angry at the mention of Lincoln. She would remember not to personally incense the dark-skinned warrior, she was obviously no one to mess around with.

Unsurprisingly, Lexa demanded to see Lincoln as proof in the end.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Taylor knew that Lexa would go to the dropship, wanting to see Lincoln with her own eyes. She had not told Lexa about the fact that Lincoln’s recovery would not be smooth. It did not appear as if she would get the chance to speak privately with the brunette either now.

“Do you wish to come or remain here?” Anya’s hushed question interrupted Taylor’s train of thought abruptly.

“She will accompany us” Lexa suddenly spoke up.

Clarke was waiting in the middle of the tent right now as she had denied the offer to chose someone to accompany her.

Taylor slightly furrowed her brows, simply being surprised by the commander’s sharp tone.

“If you are feeling well enough that is” Lexa amended a few seconds later and her expression had turned a lot gentler as well.

Taylor immediately nodded her head in agreement. It seemed that the few hours of additional rest she had gotten during the journey here had helped her greatly already. In addition, as a doctor she was honestly curious to see Lincoln herself; she might even be able to give some medical input on how to help the Reapers.

A small part of her honestly did not wish to stay alone within the commander’s tent. She knew that the tent would be guarded, but for some reason Taylor preferred to stay in close proximity to the commander and general.

Taylor was slightly surprised that there was absolutely no real preparation needed for their trek to the Drop Ship and already a moment later Lexa proclaimed that they would leave.

She did not know if Anya had described the location of the Drop Ship to Lexa or if the commander would not know about it from their previous attacks on the 100, but Lexa still motioned for Clarke to lead the way.

Taylor could not even begin to try and imagine how the young blonde woman must be feeling, leading the commander and a few heavily weaponed warriors to the Drop Ship. She knew of course that no trap was waiting for them, but she could hear Indra speaking to Lexa, most likely trying to convince the young leader of the dangers that they may be walking into a trap.

Her condition indeed was thankfully improved enough that Taylor barely felt more than a slight pulling pain in her abdomen during the way.

Anya walked next to Taylor constantly and the general was on edge as well visibly as one of her hands rested on the sword dangling from her hip. Her brown eyes flitted around the surroundings they passed nonstop and it was honestly beginning to freak Taylor out.

She knew that no one would dare to shoot their small progression now.

When a bird suddenly broke free from a tree close to them, Anya whirled to the animal and had her sword half-drawn already.

Taylor sighed under her breath and she grasped onto one of the general’s hands on instinct, hoping to calm the other woman’s mind. They were not alone of course and with Indra’s, Clarke’s and the other warrior’s company, she knew that she could not reveal her knowledge now.

Anya looked bewildered for a moment and in fact even seemed to miss a step. She glanced down on their linked hands with slightly widened eyes; she did not do anything to severe their contact either though.

Taylor’s cheeks flushed a little with a blush when Anya turned her eyes to her and their gazes met. She noticed in relief though that the general seemed to relax after this.

She did notice though how the conversation between Indra and the commander was abruptly stopped from the younger woman.

Taylor did not know why, but she immediately felt bad when Lexa’s green eyes narrowed down on their linked hands. She could not identify the emotions within the leader’s gaze and the commander looked away only a moment later, but Taylor had heard how growled the brunette’s last words to Indra had sounded.

While a part of her wanted to let go of Anya’s hand, another part did not want that and she finally decided to listen to the later part and just enjoy the moment while it lasted.

~ ~ ~

Taylor was glad that she had already seen the Drop Ship. The smell which still lingered in the air from all the ashes was heavy.

Indra and the other warriors – as well as Lexa – obviously had not seen this scene before and all of them seemed shocked for a moment.

Anya finally let go of Taylor’s hand as her eyes suspiciously turned towards the Drop Ship.

Taylor could imagine that the general would not like entering the metal contraception again as she had been overpowered by the delinquents in it before and right after that abducted by the Mountain Men.

“Lincoln is inside” Clarke spoke up in a rather feeble tone when all eyes turned to her.

Lexa gave a slight nod to two warriors of whom Taylor did not know the names and the doctor was slightly surprised when they obviously stepped into position to protect her.

Gustus climbed up the small metal ladder right after Clarke and Taylor watched Lexa climb up after that. She wanted to grasp out herself, but Anya pulled her back and sent one of the warriors ahead.

“Stay close to me” Anya ordered in a crisp tone which showed how frayed her nerves must have been.

Taylor slightly inclined her head. If Indra had not standing right behind them, she would have assured the general that everything would go well. She recognized though that both, Lexa and Anya, were only trying to keep her protected.

Once Taylor finally climbed up the ladder herself, it was actually Lexa who had bend over the small opening to offer her a hand. The pain in her abdomen was strongly increasing and Taylor was relieved once she stood upright again.

She had forgotten just how badly the situation in the Drop Ship really had been.

Lincoln was lying on the ground, still shackled to the floor, surrounded by people from Skykru who all looked down. Octavia was kneeling next to his head and crying.

Lexa was looking back and forth between Lincoln and Taylor in confusion for a moment, before her expression turned angry and she looked towards Clarke.

“You lied” Lexa brought out through clenched teeth “and you have run out of time!”.

“No, no, you do not have to do this…” Clarke tried to ease the situation in a desperate tone.

The warriors who were supposed to protect Taylor had stepped closer to the doctor protectively.

Bellamy looked around with wide eyes and noticing how protected the blonde woman was, he aimed his gun at Taylor.

“No, no, no, wait!” Clarke exclaimed loudly, stepping right in front of Bellamy’s gun. She knew that there would be absolutely no going back if this situation escalated.

Both, Lexa and Anya, had drawn their swords at the threat towards Taylor.

Taylor was biting at her lip indecisively. She knew that the shock baton would be the tool to revive Lincoln and that Abby would see this in a moment as well, but there were more people inside the Drop Ship now than there had been in the show and she could not deny how Lexa and Anya were obviously highly protective of her. Could this situation now play out differently? If she pointed towards the shock baton, Taylor knew that Lexa would not have the same respect to Clarke than she had in the show.

Clarke’s mother suddenly lurched out towards the shock baton.

Taylor could see Anya raising her sword in that moment and on instinct, she reached out quickly and pulled on the general’s other arm.

Abby pushed the shock baton on Lincoln’s chest before the electricity drizzled loudly.

Lexa and Anya both thankfully seemed to pause in their impending attack and instead chose to watch what was going on.

The commander threw a glance back at Taylor questioningly and the doctor tried to give her a subtle nod, feeling reassured that things would happen like she knew them to.

“Use it again, mum” Clarke said when the first attempt did not bring any result and Abby did exactly that.

Lincoln suddenly sputtered and his eyes opened again. He seemed exhausted and his tone was heavily strained when he whispered Octavia’s name.

Taylor smiled slightly at the love which was so obvious when the dark-haired girl burst into relived tears. She noticed though that Bellamy was still taxing her suspiciously with a strong glance.

She was still absolutely relived when Lexa proclaimed that they would now return to their tent. She demanded that Clarke joined her to speak about a cease-fire between their people.

“Clarke is not the leader of our people” Abby tried to argue with the commander “I am the chancellor currently…”.

Lexa shook her head though “Clarke has started these negotiations, so, she will be the one to hear the conditions now” the commander’s tone rung with finality and she simply turned around to leave the Drop Ship, efficiently hindering Abby to voice any further protest.

~ ~ ~

The walk back from Drop Ship seemed to go over quicker. Taylor was still only looking forward to being able to finally sit down. The long trek clearly had used up a lot of strength and she was beginning to feel a little light-headed again, while the pain in her healing wound increased again.

“Do you need another tea?” Anya asked in a low tone just after they had reached the commander’s tent.

Taylor slightly inclined her head in agreement and she did not speak up in protest when the general more or less gently guided her towards a chair and pushed her a little to sit down, leaving for a moment to fetch the needed tea.

Observant like Lexa was, she had followed the interaction and her expression appeared worried for a moment, before she turned her attention back to Clarke. She knew that the blonde woman had done nothing but bluffed, she had been lucky to have been able to safe Lincoln. Still, the girl had done what she had promised in the end.

Clarke was curiously glancing at Taylor as well. Her brows were furrowed in thought. It was obvious that the blonde woman was not one of Trikru and she of course remembered how hostile Anya had reacted to them meeting in the woods. She had no idea what could have changed so quickly. Anya had appeared ready to murder the blonde and now she was heavily protected for some reason.

Clarke would have liked to invite Bellamy for example to accompany her as back up and moral support, but the commander had made it clear that she was expected to come alone.

“Lincoln’s recovery was…” Lexa hesitated for a moment and she stepped right in front of Taylor, shielding the blonde doctor from Clarke’s probing gazes “…impressive”.

“Why is she here?” Clarke demanded to know boldly, feeling securer now that Lincoln had indeed survived and was coherent again. Lexa’s protective manner was only making her more curious as well.

Anya returned into the commander’s tent just in time to catch Clarke’s question, brushing past the tent flaps without hesitation and immediately bringing the streaming cup of tea to Taylor, handing it over with a slight smile.

Taylor looked up at the general worriedly for a moment. She had already feared that Clarke and the other members of Skykru would have question about her origins.

“Taylor is no concern of yours” Lexa retorted calmly although her features hardened visibly; Anya had turned around as well from Taylor and was glaring at Clarke in warning.

“She is not Trikru though” Clarke prodded further in a rather petulant tone.

“Taylor is a blessing sent by the flame. That is all you need to know” Lexa exclaimed in a determined tone and her lips pressed into a thin line, daring the blonde to question her any further.

“The flame?” Clarke echoed in confusion and obviously new awakened curiosity.

Both, Lexa and Anya, turned really angry now though. They were not planning to tell Clarke of Taylor’s knowledge or origin. Additionally, questioning the commander like this was outright disrespectful and no member of the coalition would dare to act like this.

“You are here to hear the terms of the cease-fire, Clarke of the Sky people” Lexa said in a slightly growled tone “and there will be no cease-fire if your people do not give up the assassin for justice”.

Clarke seemed taken off guard by this sudden change and her voice sounded surprised “You want what?”

“Bring me the one called Finn” Lexa proclaimed in a firm tone “The cease-fire begins with his death”.

“No, absolutely not” Clarke retorted with a shake of her head “Why would we hand over Finn?”

“Finn killed 18 innocent villagers. There will be no cease-fire before justice is seen” Lexa easily answered in a calm but firm tone and her eyes narrowed a little as she added “If not for Yssa taking one of his bullets, I would have been killed by him. There will be justice.”

Clarke obviously wanted to argue, but Lexa called out to Gustus.

“Escort Clarke back to her people” she ordered finally “You have until sunset to hand the boy over”. 

“Will they hand him over?” Anya asked doubtfully once Clarke had been escorted out of the tent.

Taylor nodded her head after taking another large gulp of the tea “More or less” she said and elaborated “Finn and some of his friends will go to the Drop Ship, but he will turn himself in last minute. I think to a group lead by Indra”.

Anya’s expression turned into a frown, recognizing that Skykru itself obviously would decide against handing Finn over to his rightful justice.

Lexa seemed less than pleased as well. She pinched the bridge of her nose in obvious frustration, before she walked right back of the tent, going to order Indra and a few warriors to take position to capture the assassin and also to prepare the place for his execution.

Taylor started to yaw a moment later. She knew that there would be a few hours of waiting now and she did not have anything negative to retort when Anya asked her if she did not just wish to lie down for a while.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

When Anya woke Taylor up later, night was beginning to fall around the camp and the deadline the commander had set Skykru to hand over Finn was running out.

“The execution will begin soon” Anya informed the blonde doctor in a soft tone.

The other woman was rubbing at her eyes groggily while she sat up underneath the furs covering the bed.

“Okay…” Taylor said with a slight yaw, while Anya’s words actually started to register within her foggy mind. She got up and out of the bed quickly while she looked around the tent for Lexa. Unfortunately, the commander was no where in sight.

“Where is Lexa?” the blonde doctor questioned curiously. She thankfully was able to stand up and stretch herself relatively painless now, most likely thanks to the last tea she had drunk before falling asleep earlier.

“The commander is already at the side of the execution” Anya said easily “You were right by the way Indra and her warriors are bringing the assassin now”.

“Oh wow, that was quick” Taylor commented thoughtfully. She somehow had expected that there would be more time before the execution took place.

“Lexa expects us there in a few moments” Anya did not react to Taylor’s comment. The general was occupied with dressing herself. She was still missing her usual clothing, having been stripped of that by the Mountain Men and Lexa had arranged some substitute clothing for her.

Taylor herself fetched the coat she had been given for the journey here and dressed into it. “Where is the cloakroom here?” she questioned the general hastily.

Anya slightly raised a brow, but she explained the direction to Taylor “Hurry yourself though” she ordered. She would have preferred to accompany the doctor, but the camp was filled with warriors right now, so, nothing should happen to her.

Taylor nodded her head in agreement. She could only hope now that she would be able to interfere with Clarke. She was not sure if telling Anya about what Clarke was planning to do would be of any help. Taylor feared that Anya would react too strongly and before she could make up her mind if telling Anya might indeed be a good idea, the general inclined her head and turned on her feet, leaving the tent with quick strides.

She sighed under her breath, remaining within the tent just for a brief moment longer. Taylor shivered slightly when she finally stepped out of the tent.

The warriors who she encountered on the way Anya had described to her where all clad in gear ready for a battle, including threatening face masks. None of them did anything though to come closer to her, Taylor could feel their gazes follow her. She could only guess that Lexa’s proclamation to Indra about her being a blessing sent by the flame to support the commander was already being gossiped through the camp. She was fairly certain though that Lexa would have proclaimed herself being under the commander’s protection.

Taylor quickly found the way to the cloakroom and she was already on the way back towards the commander’s tent and the impending execution, when she caught on to something strange in a small tent close to her.

The front of the tent was guarded, but the guards of this particular tent were diverted by Indra and her warriors bringing Finn through the camp right in front of them.

Taylor saw movements in the back of the tent and she instinctively stepped closer to the small tent to investigate just what was going on there. She immediately had a very bad feeling about this somehow.

She wanted to alert the warriors, but the two young men were already following Indra and the other warriors, obviously eager to watch the execution.

Taylor stepped closer to the back of the tent quickly and her bad feelings got confirmed when the material suddenly gave away with a ripping sound and no one other than Thelonious Jaha himself climbed through the hole in the tent.

She quickened her steps knowing that the man was not allowed to leave the camp. Taylor looked around frantically, but she unfortunately could not spot any other warriors in her proximity.

“Hey!” she called out to the man loudly.

Jaha’s head immediately whipped around to her and Taylor was nearly close enough to him to reach out and grasp on to one of his arms.

Thelonious visibly seemed confused and alarmed for a moment, before he seized Taylor and obviously decided that she was no threat to him.

Taylor’s lips thinned in rising annoyance. If there was one thing she hated, it was being underestimated for some reason. The problem now though was that Thelonious quite obviously was stronger than her physically. Taylor made a mental note to ask Lexa and Anya to at least teach her some basic fighting moves. There was no necessity for her to become a proficient warrior, but at least knowing the basics might safe her in this weird world one day.

“You can’t leave” Taylor said in a pretended strong tone, trying to interfere with Jaha’s way.

The dark-skinned man’s features twisted into a mocking expression “I am certainly not going to be held up by you” he sneered.

Taylor tried to plant her feet strongly on the ground as she placed herself directly in front of him and held up her hands as if she planned to hit him.

Jaha did not appear impressed at all and gave Taylor a push, dodging her badly-aimed punch and instead punching her in the face himself.

Taylor gave a grunt of pain when the man brought her to her knees and when she tried to make a grab for his legs, the man backhanded her strongly.

Taylor’s head collided with a rock on the ground and as she tried to get up again, Jaha had already gotten out of her reach.

“Damn!” Taylor cussed in agitation. She got to her feet as quickly as possible and tried to hurry behind the man, but before she could catch up with him, Jaha had disappeared in the impending darkness between the trees.

“Damn, damn, damn…” Taylor continued to cuss under her breath. They were extremely close to Skykru’s camp and she did not remember just when Thelonious Jaha had gathered the few other members to seek for the city of light. Was it even possible for her to change things from happening?

The warriors in the distance had begun to chant “Jus drein, jus daun” on endless repeat. So, Taylor knew that Finn’s execution was about to start.

Taylor stood rooted in place for a moment. Should she follow Jaha?

She sighed under her breath. The wound on her abdomen was pulsing painfully again from the sudden fall and she knew that her sense of direction was horrible. She highly doubted that she would find her way through the dark woods and not get lost.

She shook her head. She could not leave the camp without alerting Lexa and Anya. Both of them would be worried and Taylor could not judge what would happen if she were to enter Skykru’s camp alone.

No, she needed to return to Lexa and Anya. Taylor rubbed at her temple in annoyance as she could feel blood trickle down the side of her face slowly. She already knew that she would have a number of bruises and she had skimmed her hands during her fall as well.

~ ~ ~

Anya was slowly getting impatient. The Skykru assassin had already been shackled to the pole and was waiting for his execution now. It was obvious that he was afraid. But what was taking Taylor so long?

Lexa already seemed to get impatient as well and her green eyes kept on darting towards the commander’s tent. She stepped closer to Anya shortly “Where is Yssa again?” she asked in a sharp tone.

“She just wanted to go to the cloakroom quickly” Anya answered in an agitated tone. It was exactly what she had told Lexa only a few minutes ago. “She should have been back by now” she added through clenched teeth, internally debating if she should go looking for the doctor, wondering if something could have happened to her.

“If she does not appear soon, search for her” Lexa finally ordered in a brisk tone. She was about to order the execution to start, when Taylor suddenly appeared.

Anya noticed even from far that the blonde woman was slightly staggering on her feet and as she got nearer, she also noticed a trail of along one side of the blonde’s head. With a furrowed brow, she immediately stepped closer to Taylor. Something had clearly happened to her. How could something happen to the doctor in a camp filled with warriors?

“What happened to you?” Anya immediately questioned the blonde woman in concern when she stood in front of her. There were even more wounds on Taylor’s body up close.

“Jaha…” Taylor brought out a little breathless, pressing a hand against the strongly hurting wound on her abdomen “…he got away. I tried to hold him up, but…” she inhaled strongly again.

Lexa had come closer as well now and she also looked worried at the doctor’s clearly battered up state.

“…he overpowered me” Taylor rasped a little “I tried, but I was not strong enough” she said in deep regret.

Lexa sighed under her breath, remembering the doctor’s warning about the man. She could not understand how one man had managed to escape now alone after she had put the tent under guard herself.

The warriors and other generals were all waiting for the execution to start though.

“You can go and lie down if you prefer” Lexa offered in a rather soft tone. She knew that it was not Taylor’s fault that Jaha had gotten away. The two guards who had been responsible for watching his tent on the other hand would be seen to by her later though. They had clearly been sloppy in their assigned task and if anything, then they were to blame for the man being able to flee.

Taylor shook her head though. She needed to stay here. Right when she wanted to speak up about what would happen now with Clarke, a path behind them was already cleared for the blonde Skykru leader.

“Come” Anya said to Taylor, gently placing a hand behind the doctor’s back while Lexa had already turned around and joined Indra and Gustus. The dark-skinned warrior was getting impatient.

Taylor nodded slightly and when she joined the other warriors with Anya it was the first time that she looked over to Finn.

The last time she had seen the young man, he had blindly and in a completely crazed rage been shooting at the defenceless villagers of TonDC, shooting 18 innocent villagers.

Nothing showed his rage now. Even from the distance, Taylor could see how ghostly white Finn appeared to be. It was hard to make out his features exactly, but it was obvious that he was afraid.

Taylor was internally debating with herself if she should just warn Anya now and try to give Lexa a subtle hint.

She knew that it brought Lexa problems with her people that Clarke had interfered with the execution and mercy-killed Finn. Maybe this had been the point where the young leader was truly beginning to lose the faith of the coalition. Otherwise though it had been important for Skykru to see how the grounders really worked. Right now, they had no real idea about Trikru and their form of justice system.

“Anya” Taylor tried to whisper to the general.

The older woman slightly rubbed over the doctor’s back as a sign that she was indeed listening.

“I need to speak to the commander!” Clarke’s demanding tone wafted over to them.

Taylor looked over to Clarke, realizing that the other blonde was already too near to them now.

“Are you dizzy?” Anya asked in a worried tone, fearing that something was wrong with the doctor.

Taylor shook her head in the negative, while Indra intercepted Clarke’s way with a raised speer, just as she had done in the show was well.

“Let her pass” Lexa called out to Indra. Although obviously with reluctance, the dark-skinned warrior obeyed.

“You bleed for nothing. You cannot stop this” Lexa said as soon was Clarke standing in front of her.

Taylor looked slightly over her shoulder towards Anya.

“Something is wrong?” Anya had leaned forward a little whispering into her ear.

Taylor subtly shook her head. Gustus was already looking into their direction now, there simply was no possibility for Taylor now to say anything without someone hearing it.

“Only you can” Clarke said with emphasis, looking at the commander with a pleading expression “Show my people how powerful you are. Show them that you can be merciful.”

Taylor could almost hear the torment in the blonde’s tone. She threw a glance at Anya, giving her a nod to show her that she should not worry, before she stepped closer to Lexa and Clarke, positioning herself in a way that she could look at the other blonde woman.

Taylor tried to subtly catch the blonde’s attention. Indeed, Clarke shortly looked at her and Taylor quickly tried to mouth “DON’T!” to her, looking at her pointedly.

Lexa of course caught this short exchange and her expression showed her confusion.

Unfortunately, Clarke only faltered for a second, before she continued “Show them you are not a savage” her tone was pleading and her blue eyes were desperate.

Indra and Gustus shuffled angrily at Clarke’s words and Taylor felt Lexa tensing next to her. She knew that Clarke had chosen exactly the wrong words. She did not know if there would have been anything which could have swayed Lexa to be merciful on Finn.

“We are what we are” Lexa said with fury evident in her green eyes and her face hard as stone. Taylor felt the internal need to reach out and comfort her, but she knew that she could not right now without causing a scene. 

Clarke was getting more and more desperate by the second, as the other girl must have recognized her failure to sway the commander already.

“I am a killer. I burnt three hundred of your warriors. I slid a man’s throat and watched him die. I am soaked in grounder blood” Clarke continued and her voice sounded slightly trembling. She looked at Anya for a short moment and the guilt only seemed to intensify.

The general had stepped directly behind Taylor again, sensing that something was going on which the doctor was trying to prevent, but she did not know what. Hearing about her warriors again, felt like a dagger to the heart. Taylor could hear her inhale sharply and she looked over her shoulder at her in sympathy.

Lexa only cast a short glance at Finn and looked back at Clarke, her face an expressionless mask and she remained resolutely silent.

“Take me” Clarke had started to plead in earnest now, voice shaky and tears glistening in her blue eyes.

The commander had to silently give the blonde leader credit for her bravery. It was obvious how much the boy must mean to her or she would not offer her own life in exchange to save his. But there was no possibility to take someone’s place in such a punishment, her people would never accept such a thing.

“Finn is guilty” Lexa only answered with a piercing stare. She could feel her warrior's restlessness rising with every passing moment and this discussion was not rewarding to anything.

Taylor shortly glanced at Finn and the boy seemed to be watching their exchange with watering eyes. He must have been aware that changing his fate was impossible. Taylor silently asked herself if the boy might not even think that he deserved the punishment he would get.

“No” Clarke denied vehemently “He did it for me”. Taylor could see the blonde’s eyes watering as she repeated in a whiny voice “He did it for me…” Her voice completely gave out on her on the last words.

“Then he dies for you” Lexa said in an even tone and the commander seemed completely unmoved by Clarke’s admission.

Taylor could see the hope Clarke had obviously still held onto desperately, vanish from her eyes and she let her shoulders sag in defeat. The blonde looked at Finn one more time, who had taken to looking at the sky above them, and looked back at the commander “Can I say goodbye?” she asked in a thick tone.

Taylor once again tried to catch Clarke’s attention and shook her head at her with desperate eyes, but Clarke only met her gaze for a moment and her blue eyes turned hard.

Gustus and Indra frowned at the question, but Lexa seemed to consider it for a moment, before she merely inclined her head to signal her permission.

Both of them watched as Clarke slowly went over to Finn and hugged him. They were standing too far away from the pole to hear the words the blonde was obviously whispering into his ears. From the shaking of Clarke’s shoulders, Taylor was sure the girl was crying now. Finn smiled at Clarke and whispered something back to her.

After a long moment what seemed like a small eternity later, Clarke finally moved away from Finn with tears streaming down her cheeks. Taylor could see how Finn’s body had sagged in the chains and his head had fallen onto his chest and with a harsh breath she realized that Finn had already died. A small knife dripping with blood laid in Clarke’s hands and it took the warriors around the pole only a short moment before they also caught on to what had transpired.

Outraged shouts could be heard all around them and Indra and some others had already drawn their weapons again and were clearly intending on attacking Clarke.

Lexa looked shocked for a slight moment, looking at Taylor with widened green eyes for affirmation that this had been meant to happen, before she pulled her warriors to a stop with a simple gesture of her hand. “It is done” the commander declared in a steady loud voice.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Taylor had not expected the Trikru warriors to be in that much uproar because of what Clarke had done. Of course, in the show the warriors had also been angry, but it had not really shown how the warriors reacted.

It was painfully obvious that the warriors did not feel appeased in their claim for justice in the slightest with the simple and quick way Finn had been killed now, not even at the hands of one of them. Even though Lexa had already called them to order, the whispers going through the crowd were aggressive.

Taylor shortly looked at Clarke and she honestly felt pity for the younger woman. She was obviously already in a state of shock and the blonde young woman was staring at the bloodied knife which glistened within her hands with wide blue eyes. She seemed blind to the uproar she had caused though and she did not show the slightest reaction when one particularly angry soldier suddenly approached the small group of them with a drawn dagger and an angry snarl.

Suddenly, Anya put herself in front of Taylor again, intent on protecting the blonde doctor. She honestly had not expected that Clarke would do something so stupid. She just had made everything so much more different for Lexa. There had already been too much bad blood between both of their people and Clarke had efficiently just trampled their culture without any kind of respect. She barely could have done worse if she had planned to insult Trikru. Interfering with a case of well-deserved execution like this was a crime punishable by death.

She just wished that Taylor would have told them about this happening before. The blonde doctor had obviously known this would happen. She hoped that Taylor had a reason for not having told them this would happen though. Could this event somehow be essential for the future the blonde knew about?

Lexa gave a quick nod to Gustus, who brought the attacking warrior down quickly. The commander turned to her general next “Bring Yssa and Clarke into my tent” she ordered briskly as her expression morphed from slightly shocked to hard as stone in the blink of an eye. She knew that she needed to remain seen for a while and control the rage with which her warriors were reacting right now.

Anya put a hand behind the doctor’s back while she held a dagger in her free hand. She motioned towards Clarke with it. The blonde Skykru leader caught her eye for a moment as if she was breaking out of a trance. She straightened herself slightly and followed the general with a brave face.

Taylor tried to estimate Anya’s mood. It was obvious that the general was tense. She was not sure though if she was imagining the slight hint of disappointment within her brown eyes. A shiver ran threw her frame as the old guilt resurfaced for a moment.

Indeed, Anya noticed how Taylor suddenly began to shive and she was alarmed by the far-away look which was within the doctor’s grey eyes right now. She recognized this though. Some of her own warriors had returned from a battle in such a state, not able to forget the horrible things they had seen or done.

She retained her hand on the blonde woman’s back as a silent reassurance. She did know yet how Taylor reacted to being pulled out of such a haze forcefully and there was no necessity to do it now as they would be safe from prying eyes in the commander’s tent.

Anya narrowed her eyes down at Clarke once they had stepped inside of the commander’s tent. A pair of guards had followed them silently on Lexa’s orders and were now standing guard right at the entrance. It was highly unlikely that any of their warriors would be foolish enough to try and seek out revenge on Clarke at this moment, so, Anya did not have to worry about protecting them now.

Although she was highly annoyed with the blonde Skykru leader, Anya was not blind to the impact the action had on Clarke right now. She fetched a bowl of water and a rag for her, placing it on the table silently, turning back to Taylor.

The blonde doctor was once again too pale for her liking and she still seemed caught up in her own thoughts. While Clarke was inside in the tent with them, she could also not question her why she had not just warned them about what Clarke would do. She had taken a damp rag herself, intent on cleaning away the dried blood from Taylor’s face.

Anya crouched down slightly in front of Taylor and gently placed the wet piece of cloth against the blonde woman’s temple causing her to startle visibly.

“Hey, you are safe here” Anya assured her in a kind tone while looking at her with understanding brown eyes. She gently patted at the doctor’s wound, slowly removing the blood which was starting to form an ugly crust against her fair skin.

Taylor let the general help her mutely while she was looking up at her in mute apology. She had failed twice today. She had failed to hold up Jaha, basically letting him escape and now she had also failed to prevent Clarke from mercy-killing Finn.

In the meantime, Clarke was on the verge of a breakdown. She was scrubbing frantically at Finn’s blood drying on the skin of her fingers while tears pooled in her blue eyes. Once she let out the first audible sob, Anya sighed under her breath.

“Are you okay?” she hushed to Taylor in concern and when the doctor nodded only a split moment later the general gave her hands a slight squeeze before she turned to Clarke.

“Do you have the slightest idea of what you have just done?” Anya leaned against the table just next to Taylor, keeping physical contact with the doctor by placing a hand on one of her shoulders.

Clarke sobbed again as the first tears fell from her eyes, she was looking up from her fingers towards Anya now though. Her expression turned from desperate to angry in the blink of an eye and her tone was angry when she accused Anya “You were supposed to help me. You promised to speak to your commander for me. If you had done so, I would not have been forced to do this just now!”

Anya crossed her arms in front of her chest with a raised brow, not impressed at all by Clarke’s outbreak. The girl – as she refused to recognize her as a woman if she insisted on acting like this – was not in the right here and she would make her see that.

“Oh, believe me, I have spoken to the commander about what happens in the Mountain” Anya answered in a calm tone not acting on the blonde’s provocation “But you obviously have no idea into what impossible position you have put Lexa now. You have completely disregarded our traditions and now you wish our warriors to work with your people.”

“Traditions?!” Clarke echoed in a screechy tone as her hands balled to angry fists “Lincoln told us what your people would have done to Finn. You call this a tradition?!”

Anya’s brown eyes blazed angrily at the blonde girl, staring her down strongly “Yes, the boy has killed 18 innocent villagers. We have been there, Clarke, we saw him shoot them without any provocation. How would your people have dealt with such a transgression?”

“The Ark’s carta would have condemned Finn to death as well” Taylor spoke up, trying to interfere with the conversation. She wanted Clarke to recognize as well what she had done. She wanted to protect Lexa and she knew that Clarke’s transgression only enhanced distrust from Trikru to Skykru.

Clarke looked taken aback and her blue eyes narrowed down at Taylor now “How do you know this?” she demanded to know.

“Am I wrong?” Taylor questioned ignoring Clarke’s previous words.

The blonde Skykru leader shook her head in the negative “But how do you know this?” she repeated her demand.

“I know many thing” Taylor answered vaguely, ignoring the general’s alarmed gaze “Like Lexa already told you I am a blessing sent to help her, gifted with certain knowledge”.

Clarke’s brows furrowed as she mulled Taylor’s words over. It was obvious that the answer was not enough to her.

“So, your people would have executed the assassin as well” Anya said before Clarke could come up with another question.

“Yes” the blonde girl agreed in a clearly reluctant tone before a defiant glint returned to her blue eyes “But we would have executed him with a single shot and not tortured him to death. It would have been a quick painless death and not what your people would have done!”

The tent flaps were opened before Anya could return something and Abby and Kane rushed inside.

The blonde Skykru doctor immediately went over to hug her daughter. Both, Kane and Abby, were clearly worried by what had happened and what the consequences now may be.

“Clarke, I am here, it is okay” Abby tried to comfort her daughter in a soothing tone.

It only made Clarke cry again “I had to do it, mum, I really had to...”.

“I know, baby” Abby answered, rubbing over Clarke’s back.

“You really need to learn Trigedasleng” Anya turned her back on Clarke and her mother as her attention returned to Taylor.

The blonde doctor slightly snorted under her breath, but nodded in agreement. She had never been that good with languages though. She of course recognized that it would come in handy in front of Skykru who did not know the language either.

“Do you want to lie down?” Anya offered questioningly as she gazed down in concern to Taylor. She did not like that Taylor had been in a physical fight with Thelonious Jaha and she hoped that the doctor had not done anything to her healing wound.

Taylor shook her head though “I am fine” she assured the general. She was touched by the concern though and slightly reached towards Anya’s hand resting on the table in front of her and placed her own on top of it with the hint of a smile.

Lexa entered the tent only a short moment later closely followed by Gustus and Indra.

It was obvious immediately that Indra’s anger towards Skykru had enhanced immensely by what Clarke had done. The dark-skinned warrior was glaring daggers at her as she took her position next to the throne.

Lexa had sat down on her throne and Gustus had moved to her right side “Blood has answered blood. Some on my side say that it is not enough. They wanted the murderer to suffer as our tradition demands” the commander said with a carefully blank face. Taylor could imagine that Indra would have already made her opinion on the matter clear to the commander right outside.

“But they do not know that your suffering will be worse” Lexa said looking deeply into the blonde’s blue eyes with a slight hint of compassion in her green ones “What you did right now will haunt you until the end of your days.”

Clarke swallowed harshly, biting her lips and reverted her eyes to the floor of the tent obviously unable to meet the commander’s piercing gaze any longer. Taylor was not sure if the blonde actually had understood the graveness of what she had done. She knew from the show that the harshness of the grounders only really sunk in to Skykru after having seen Raven’s and Gustus’ punishment in TonDC. She had hoped to be able to prevent this from happening as she thought that Raven really suffered much already. Taylor made a mental note to indeed discuss this matter with Lexa and Anya as soon as possible.

“Still there will be restitution. The body will be given to the people of TonDC. Murder and murdered joined by fire. Only then can we have peace” Lexa finished her demands in a calm tone.

Abby and Clarke both seemed speechless for a moment, so Kane spoke up “No, no. We have done enough. The boy should be buried by his own people” the man said with conviction in his voice.

“Enough” Indra interjected with a taunting voice “We were owed the pain of eighteen deaths; we were owed our righteous kill. My village deserves justice.”

“You do not want justice” Abby spoke up now clearly agitated “All you want is vengeance.”

“You have not seen my vengeance” Indra seethed and stepped closer to Abby, her grip on her sword becoming tighter as the tension rose in the tent.

While the conversation went on Taylor’s eyes travelled over to Gustus. She was trying to estimate if the burly man was already planning his move to frame poisoning the commander on Raven to destroy the possibility of a cease fire between the coalition. She could only imagine how much having to execute Gustus had hurt the commander personally. Could she somehow prevent this from happening? Taylor had not had much interaction with Gustus yet, so, she knew that going to the man and confronting him directly made little sense. Would Lexa already punish him just for planning his treachery? In the end, Gustus had after all only tried to protect his leader. Taylor’s brows furrowed in internal debate. What good did all her knowledge do to Lexa and Anya if she was too afraid of changing the wrong things?

“We’ll do it” Clarke suddenly said in an empty voice “But when it is over, we talk about how to get our people out of Mount Weather, all of our people.”

“We want the same thing, Clarke” Lexa said evenly, only looked at the blonde.

“Good” Clarke answered “When do we leave?” she asked, wanting things to move along as quickly as possible.

“Now” came the short answer from the commander, as the woman stood up from her throne again “Chose your attendants”.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Taylor’s eyes widened a little at Lexa’s words. She had completely forgotten that the journey in the show began almost immediately after Lexa’s and Clarke’s talk. She did not have a chance yet to tell Lexa and Anya what would happen in TonDC.

Her grey eyes shifted over to Gustus who stood right beside the throne. The man was indeed huge and if she did not prevent it, he would die in TonDC. Taylor was not sure just how long the journey to TonDC actually was. Would she have a chance to speak with Lexa and Anya alone before they entered the village. She remembered how Gustus had snuck a bottle of poison into Raven’s jacket as he had pretended to search her for weapons in the show.

Even now Taylor could see the man’s dark eyes flitting back and forth between the members of Skykru within the tent in suspicion. Was he planning his betrayal already? Taylor did not know the answer. What she did know for certain though was that the man would take action in the believes that the alliance between Skykru and the coalition would not come to be. He was ready to sacrifice his own life in the hopes of saving his protégé.

In addition, Taylor knew for certain that having to execute Gustus was going to hurt Lexa on a deep personal level. She did not know if somehow trying to change the future in a way in which Gustus survived would in the end already increase Lexa’s security. Titus after all had accidentally shot Lexa while actually trying to protect her in a rather twisted way. 

Taylor felt her stomach churn slightly when her eyes fell onto Clarke. Would Lexa die if the two became a couple like the did in the show? And why was the mere thought of these two together leaving a sour taste within her mouth?

The feeling of Anya’s fingers giving her own a slight squeeze pulled Taylor from her deep thoughts. She blinked for a second, feeling a little dazed. Taylor actually had not consciously noticed that their physical contact had remained intact all through the meeting.

Anya snorted under her breath. Her slight amusement was overshadowed by worry lingering within her brown eyes as the general gazed down at the blonde woman. Taylor had completely missed how the tent had cleared already, neither had the other woman reacted to being called in a soft tone.

“Sorry” Taylor automatically said and her features pulled into an innocent smile when Anya’s eyes narrowed at the apology “I was just lost in my thoughts…” the blonde exclaimed, tone still sounding far away somehow.

Taylor looked around the tent quickly, noticing that she was the only one left inside with the general. She wondered where Lexa was and her lips pressed into a displeased line; she wanted to speak to both women together.

“Where is Lexa?” she inquired in an even tone. Taylor’s hand left on the table immediately felt colder when Anya straightened herself and finally removed her own hand. Her brows furrowed at the general’s suddenly closed off expression. She only noticed now just how physically close the other woman had been to her and now the distance felt weirdly magnified.

“One of the Skykru is causing trouble” Anya answered in a crisp tone as she turned her head towards the tent flaps.

Taylor sighed under her breath. She knew who most likely was meant. Raven. The Skykru woman had not wanted anyone to touch Finn’s body and she had caused a scene with Clarke.

“Anya wait” Taylor called out, stopping the general mid-step. She hoped that Gustus had followed Lexa and that the commander’s tent was unguarded now. It would at least explain why the general had stayed behind with her.

“Do you need a healer?” Anya had returned back to Taylor’s side in a blink and was gazing down on her with the same worry from only moments before.

Taylor shook her head in slight confusion, regretting the motion immediately though. A headache bloomed beneath her temples, probably courtesy of her fight with Jaha. “No…” she insisted in the firmest tone she could muster a moment later. The general did not seem convinced judging from her raised brow, but Taylor did not give her a chance to speak either. “… but I need to talk to you. Ideally with Lexa as well, but as she is not here, I am just going to tell it to you now. I know what will happen in TonDC of course” the blonde doctor continued in a rushed tone.

It was obvious that Anya was listening intently to each of the doctor’s words. She still interrupted her though, feeling slightly foolish for her sudden flash of jealousy before. “I can call Lexa back. The track can wait for a little” the general proposed.

Taylor contemplated the option for a moment, before she shook her head again, much gentler this time though. Her expression was deeply conflicted when she began to speak again “You have no idea just how complicated this concept of knowing the future and not knowing what events are changeable and what not or what would actually bring a good change is…”. Taylor shoulders fell slightly in defeat.

She knew of course that a few key elements just needed to happen. Skykru and the coalition needed to form the alliance or there simply would not be peace. The peace would remain shaky and she was afraid that keeping Gustus alive would make it even more unstable. But the scene of Lexa pushing her sword into Gustus’ heart and how the commander would hide her feeling there was still vivid within Taylor’s mind from the last time she had seen this episode of the show. She wanted to spare the commander the pain, but she was unsure if she could.

Anya watched the blonde doctor literally crumble in front of her eyes. A moment ago, the other woman had appeared steadfast in her decision to tell her of whatever knowledge she had of the immediate future. Now, she sat there with her shoulders hunched and if Anya was not mistaken completely, she appeared to be close to tears.

She sunk down into a crouch right in front of Taylor and while she placed one hand gently on the blonde woman’s shoulder, Anya reached out with her other hand and guided her chin upwards, so that their eyes were meeting again. “Just tell me what you know, Yssa” she urged the other woman in an understanding tone “We can try and decide together what to do”. The general knew that Lexa would be waiting for them, but she doubted that her former second would demand them to hurry.

Taylor gave the general a slightly timid smile, feeling her long index finger still lingering on her chin. She nodded once Anya pulled away a little. She took in one deep breath, deciding a slight change in subject “Did Lexa tell you that she will die?” she asked, gazing deeply into the general’s brown eyes.

Anya’s eyes widened visibly and her brows furrowed “The commander will fall in TonDC?!” she echoed and her tone was a little screeched.

Taylor quickly shook her head again “No, no, I did not mean it that way. Lexa will not die in TonDC. She will not even die before…” she hesitated for a moment, before she continued “…before the fall of the Mountain, but she will. Same as many others.”

“So, the Mountain will fall…” Anya’s expression retained some confusion although there was a distinct shimmer of hope for a moment “Death is a constant companion in our world”. The general remained balanced on the balls of her feet easily “A commander rarely reigns long” she added although her expression clearly showed what she thought of the possibility of the current commander dying anytime soon.

Taylor nodded “The Mountain will fall. At least it did in the future I know of” she formulated her reassurance cautiously “There is an event going to happen in TonDC which I would like to attempt to change, but I fear that it may influence the war with the Mountain”.

“And what event are you speaking of?” Anya questioned. She had let her hand linger on Taylor’s shoulder and she did not feel like pulling away either. She could already feel the subtle warmth radiating from the doctor’s body.

Taylor gnawed at her lower lip for a long moment, indecisive if telling the general was the right choice or not. As she continued to keep the eye contact with Anya, she noted how the general’s pupils suddenly dilated a fraction and she felt a sudden heat settling onto her cheeks. Taylor was suddenly very aware of the fact that she only would need to lean forward just a little bit to connect their lips. Right before she indeed wanted to give into this sudden unexpected desire, Taylor caught the sounds of movements outside of the tent and she was instantly reminded how dire the situation was. She shook her head subtly, clearing her mind of her distracting thoughts.

Anya was still gazing at her with the same intensity, patiently waiting, when Taylor looked up again. She decided that if her body suddenly seemed so attracted by the general, she may as well trust her for now. The general had after all just offered to decide together.

“It is Gustus” Taylor breathed out in a low tone. She did not know just who had walked past the commander’s tent. For all she knew, it could have been the very man himself and she did not want him warned like this. Who knew what he may come up with instead, if he feared that his plan would fail to frame Raven.

“Gusts?” Anya echoed in a surprisingly startled tone. The general was obviously deeply convinced from the man’s unwavering loyalty to Lexa.

Taylor nodded and wetted her lips with a flick of her tongue, before she explained “He thinks that the alliance with Skykru will be Lexa’s death. He will try to protect her. There will be a kind of feast at TonDC to celebrate and confirm the alliance after Finn’s body is burned together with those he had killed, right?”

Anya nodded with a cautious expression and Taylor could only guess that the general was probably trying to think of a scenario about what Gustus may do to protect Lexa.

“Gustus will take the first sip from a bottle of alcohol from Skykru” Taylor continued her explanation “It will look as if the alcohol has been poisoned”.

“Skykru will try to poison Lexa?” Anya exclaimed and a flash of horror mixed with disbelief crossed her features.

Taylor shook her head again “No, I said that it appears as if the alcohol was poisoned. But it was actually Gustus who has put poison into Lexa’s cup. He frames it on Raven, the girl was Finn’s love.”

Anya appeared speechless for a moment “He will betray Lexa?” the disbelief colouring the general’s tone was strong and it was obvious how shook she was by the mere concept.

“Yeah” Taylor agreed, looking at the other woman in sympathy. She did not know if there is a personal connection between Gustus and Anya, but judging from the fact that Anya was Lexa’s first and guided her through her training, it made sense that she would also be at least slightly close to Gustus. “Lexa and all the other will first fall for Gustus’ deception, but Clarke and Bellamy will conclude that it is not their alcohol. He will be called out for treachery”.

Anya’s expression flashed so quickly with a variety of emotions that Taylor failed to pinpoint any of them, before resoluteness settled on her features “The only thing Lexa can do then, is to execute him for his treachery” she concluded in a grim tone.

Taylor nodded her head sadly in agreement. She wished to know of a possibility to save Gustus’ life, but she was uncertain if there was any way at all. “I know that I can just tell all of this to Lexa now, but…” she hesitated for another moment and waited to have Anya’s full attention back “… in the future I know off, it seemed as if seeing your full judgment system and how harsh it really can be, finally knocked some sense into Skykru”.

It was Anya who sighed now. It was obvious that the general had understood the problem with Taylor’s dilemma. She gave the doctor’s shoulder a slight squeeze, before she swiftly got back to her feet.

Taylor wanted to open her mouth again when it appeared as if the general planned to walk out – possible to fetch the commander – she stayed silent though when Anya turned on her feet just in front of the tent flaps and crossed through the length of the tent again. Although the graveness of the situation had not left her mind, Taylor still noticed how strong and almost elegant Anya appeared as she strode across the tent, back and forth, probably just like her thoughts inside her mind.

She knew that the woman was a general and she probably would not have gotten into this military position of power if she did not possess a strategic mind, so, Taylor just waited in silence for Anya to analyse their possibilities. She felt a slight flutter in the pit of her stomach at catching herself thinking of “their” possibilities.

When it appeared as if the general would never stop pacing through the tent, Taylor finally broke the silence in a tentative tone “Anya, do you think there is a possibility of keeping Gustus alive?”

She was taken off guard by the hardness in the general’s eyes as the other woman shook her head in the negative.

“Gustus is ready to betray the commander, no matter if it is out of good intentions or not. Without unwavering loyalty, he cannot remain in his position” the general’s ton was as hard as her brown eyes.

Taylor swallowed heavily, feeling her heart sink a little. “Do you think that telling Lexa…?” she began to ask, but Anya did not let her finish.

“No, we will not tell her” the general decided in a clear tone.

Taylor nodded, feeling defeated again. She had hoped that Anya would help her find a solution to change what was about to happen in TonDC, but it was clear that the general had made her decision in favour of letting things play out.

Anya’s voice got softer again when she noticed how troubled Taylor’s expression was again “We need to get ready to leave as well”.

Taylor nodded again, sighing deeply. She accepted the general’s offered hands to pull her up from the stool and back onto her feet. She held onto the other woman’s hands for a moment longer, just speaking her thoughts “What good does my knowledge do, if I cannot use it to change something?” her tone sounded defeated and tears began to blur her grey eyes again.

Anya simply held the doctor’s hands for a brief moment, giving her soft fingers a gentle squeeze of sympathy “You have saved me” she said in a soft voice “and together we will make sure that Lexa survives”.

Taylor could not stop her lips from pulling back into a slight smile at the sheer determination within the general’s brown eyes. She did not know if the other woman was just a pure optimist or if she really thought that they could together save Lexa. She felt a little surer of herself again though. Anya was right, she had already changed one thing by keeping the general alive.

Instinctually, Taylor let go of the general’s hands and stepped just a tad bit closer, hugging the other woman before she could pull back. Her body tensed noticeably for a second, before Taylor felt Anya’s hands settle on her waist.

“Thank you” she whispered into the general’s ears as she slowly pulled away herself, almost breathing the words against the side of the other woman’s face.

Taylor felt her heartbeat pick up at the look on Anya’s features. The general appeared almost dazed and her pupils had dilated again visibly.

Before she herself could decide on anything, it was actually Anya who unexpectedly leaned forward. Taylor felt their lips connect softly and it felt as if her heart missed several beats.

Footsteps shuffling outside of the tent again, made the general pull out of Taylor’s arms completely only a second later and Taylor was left standing there with a slightly panting breath, still feeling the other woman’s soft lips against her own.

Her mind needed a moment to realize that the general had addressed her again in a surprisingly clear and steady tone.

The corners of the general’s lips were pulled into a slightly amused smirk, while gentleness still lingered within her brown eyes “We need to go now, Yssa” she repeated in a soft tone.

Taylor finally nodded, swallowing down the sudden dryness in her throat. Her mind was still occupied catching up with what had just happened.

They had kissed. Anya had kissed her. And it had felt good, extremely so. Taylor felt almost like giggling like a young girl.

Her sudden joyful mood vanished though as soon as they stepped out of the commander’s tent. The atmosphere in the camp was still noticeably hostile and Taylor felt her heart give a painful lurch when her eyes finally fell on Lexa, who was standing together with Gustus and Indra while they seemed to oversee Finn’s wrapped body being loaded onto a cart.

Taylor knew she was in deep emotional trouble. She was not just undeniably attracted to Anya, but also to Lexa. Could this get any more complicated?


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Anya watched Taylor attentively after they stepped out of the tent. It was obvious how the tense mood in the camp was influencing the blonde doctor.

Almost as if on instinct, she reached out and placed a hand soothingly on the other woman’s back and let it rest there.

Taylor turned her head back slightly, meeting Anya’s distinctly worried brown-eyed gazed in gratitude for a moment. Internally she wondered how the journey to TonDC would now be. She remembered from the show that Gustus and Lexa were shown momentarily where Gustus articulated his concern about the alliance with Skykru being potentially dangerous to the commander.

“You will ride with me now” Anya answered the question before Taylor could even think to formulate it. Now that Skykru would be travelling with them, it would be rather inappropriate for Lexa to share her horse with the blonde doctor in front of them.

Taylor nodded with a slightly confused expression “I have not even asked that yet” she commented in a light tone, trying to ignore the mood around them and instead concentrating on the warm feeling of Anya’s hand still resting on her back. She was certain the general would physically protect her as well if needed. Taylor would have felt more at ease in the camp if she were not looking so alike Skykru. Her light hair and fair complexion were standing out strongly. Beside the coat she was also still wearing her own clothes and although they were dark and ordinary, they were still visibly different from what the grounders were wearing.

“I think that I can manage to ride alone as well” Taylor voiced thoughtfully. She knew that Anya’s clothing was hiding numerous bruises and lacerations and she was also sure that the training spar with Lexa would just have made this worse.

Anya furrowed her brows and an almost affronted look crossed her features “There is no need for that” she retorted in a rather curt tone. They had not seen yet how well the blonde doctor could indeed ride and although they would be travelling at a much slower pace with Skykru accompanying them on foot and thus being slowed down, Anya still preferred to be able to make sure personally that Taylor would not fall from her horse by accident. The blonde woman seemed to be doing well even though she had been shot just a few days ago, but she was worried what might happen to that wound from an impact like falling from a horse.

Once they had reached the place where Lexa and Gustus were waiting, Taylor inspected the young leader more closely. The brunette’s green eyes immediately scanned both of them and she could almost see the questions burning within their depths. They had been alone within the commander’s tent for a while now after all, so, of course Lexa would have wondered what had held them up.

When Taylor looked over to Gustus, her stomach sank and bile rose within her throat. The show had not seen the whole length of his punishment and subsequent execution by the commander’s sword. As a medical doctor Taylor had of course seen her fair share of suffering, injuries, blood and death, but she had never seen anyone being tortured and even the thought of it was making her skin crawl.

Taylor felt Anya’s hand on her back tensing as well and her grey eyes widened a little. She had not anticipated what impact the knowledge of Gustus’ impending betrayal of the commander would have on the general. Could the general have changed her mind?

Of course, Lexa could either just sent Gustus away before he could make his move or maybe have him arrested or plainly executed as well, but Taylor was certain that this would not have the same impact on Skykru like watching the whole thing in TonDC would have.

“Should we go to the horses already?” Taylor proposed and although she had tried to keep her tone calm and steady, even she heard that it was an octave higher than normally.

Lexa raised a brow in question at the doctor’s suspicious behaviour. It was obvious that something had happened between her former first and the general. She frowned when her eyes narrowed down on the physical contact between the other two women.

“Yes, we shall leave in a moment” she ground out through gritted teeth. It was obviously unnecessary to offer to share a mount with the doctor again and Lexa hated how her blood boiled with jealousy at the clear intimacy between the other two women.

“If you do not want to speak with Gustus…” Taylor looked back over her shoulder at Anya once they had walked away far enough to not be audible anymore to Lexa and the burly guard “… you should not look at him like you just did”.

Anya audibly breathed out a large bout of air before her hand relaxed again on Taylor’s back as well. “You are sure that he will not try anything else before the feast in TonDC?”

Taylor carefully nodded her head. She could not be one hundred percent sure, after all Anya was here now and her presence would certainly change something. As long as Gustus would still voice his dissent to Lexa during the ride and also be the one to visibly search Raven in front of the gates of TonDC, Taylor was certain that it would play out like it did in the show. She told Anya what would happen under her breath, keeping her tone low.

No one was really paying close attention to them. A few members of Skykru had already gathered where the horses were and all the surrounding warriors were occupied staring them down. Taylor could fully sympathise with Bellamy visibly nervously fidgeting in place.

Taylor was not sure if she was imagining it or not, but to her it felt as if all the members of Skykru almost simultaneously seemed to eye her. Could they all be looking at Anya?

It did not seem so though as the general stepped in between her view to the group of Skykru and herself only a moment later.

Anya glared at the blonde Skykru doctor and Kane for a moment, standing with a dark-haired young man she did not know yet, feeling protective of Taylor. She motioned her over to her brown horse.

The horse’s ears flicked in recognition and the mare turned her large head, neighing in greeting at its owner.

Anya reached out and let a hand run over the horse’s large neck, feeling its soft coat under her fingertips.

Taylor watched Anya with her horse in silence while her lips tilted into a smile. She stayed a little distance back at first, but stepped closer when the general waved her closer.

Anya held her hand up with her palm up, waiting until Taylor had placed her own hand inside it, before she brought their joined hands to her horse’s nose.

Taylor smiled when the horse’s breath tickled over her hand when the mount sniffed at her fingers just like Lexa’s horse had done before. She let out a surprised chuckle though when the horse suddenly turned its head and butted into her shoulder strongly.

“She likes you” Anya commented with satisfaction tinting her tone.

“Seems so” Taylor acknowledged although she had to grit her teeth when the horse repeated its motion with a little more force and she felt a painful ripple go through her body from the shot wound.

Anya slightly pushed Taylor away from the horse and held up her hand, catching the horse by its nose when it wanted to repeat the motion a third time. She knew that her horse expressed joy to meet someone this way, but it was obviously painful to the blonde doctor.

“Let me help you mount” Anya said instead, offering Taylor a hand to get up.

Taylor nodded mutely. She would ask Anya and Lexa to teach her how to ride alone probably after the war with the Mountain or at least once her wound had healed up better. She gritted her teeth against the sudden pain once Anya hoisted her up onto the horse’s back.

Taylor remained slightly rigid in the saddle in front of Anya. She had felt the horse trample a little for a moment to adjust to both of their weights and she internally wondered if two adults were not a little too much for the animal.

When she looked over to Gustus mounting another horse a few moments later, Taylor discarded the thought again. It was probable the man weighed roughly what the both of them weighed added up together after all.

Taylor’s attention was caught by Lexa approaching her own horse with quick strides. The brunette had spoken a few words with Clarke obviously as the blonde was still watching the commander’s retreating back.

The way in which Lexa moved and how the commander’s red sash flowed behind her – almost like a river of blood – was really a sight to behold. The woman’s whole poise screamed like eternal power.

Taylor looked over to Gustus when she felt Anya’s body tensing behind her. The man’s dark eyed-gaze flicked between Clarke and the other members of Skykru and the commander. It was hard to tell from the distance, but to Taylor it seemed as if the burly guard’s expression was hardening and she sighed under her breath. A part of her was still hoping that Gustus’ death and the pain it would undoubtedly bring to Lexa was avoidable.

~ ~ ~

The ride itself went over relatively silent. Anya seemed to be deep in thought behind her for the most part. Or could the woman be just trying to reign in her impatience at the situation and not lash out at Gustus?

Taylor had relaxed on the horse once the general had placed her lean arms around her form and whispered in her ear to just lean back. She even slightly enjoyed the ride.

It seemed as if the summer must have ended around them and the leaves of some of the trees were turning yellow and red. Autumn was obviously setting in and Taylor breathed in deeply.

Anya had steered her horse to walk beside Lexa’s, just as Gustus had done on the commander’s other side. Both of them did not really talk to each other though.

Taylor could feel that there was some form of tension again between Anya and Lexa and she was not sure since when. She wondered if she had missed something happening between them.

“Tell me if you need a break” Anya broke the silence for the first time since they begun their ride.

Taylor shook her head slightly in the negative. The wound in her stomach still hurt of course but it was bearable still. She slightly gazed to her left and noticed how Lexa had turned over to look at her as well.

Once their eyes met, Taylor gave the commander a gentle smile.

Lexa’s lips tilted into the ghost of a smile as well. Her expression blanked over visibly only a second later though when Anya audibly cleared her throat and tightened her arms around Taylor. 

“ _Stop worrying Gustus_ ” Lexa said instead, turning over to her burly guard riding on her other side “ _Like you have always told me, all alliances are risky._ ”

“ _This is not the same as uniting the twelve clans. The Sky people are different_ ” the burly man answered in a serious voice. _“They are more like the Mountain Men than us_ ” he added lowly “ _It could kill our coalition”_ and worry was evident in his dark eyes.

 _“Our coalition, or me?”_ Lexa asked, her gaze switching to Gustus, daring him to answer in an offending way.

“ _You are the coalition, commander”_ Gustus said in a reverent tone.

Lexa looked more closely at his face for a second, before she answered in an even tone _“Then do your job and protect me.”_

Gustus just looked ahead of them again and silence settled between them again. Taylor had not needed any kind of translation for the small dialogue which had just passed between the two. She knew the scene well from the show.

Taylor could feel Anya tensing even more and how her hands clenched around the reigns in her fingers. She reached out after a moment and placed her own hands around Anya’s, hoping to sooth her a little. She nodded subtly towards the general, acknowledging that this had been the scene she had meant earlier.

~ ~ ~

It was only when darkness started to fall, that the commander finally called their group to a stop to make camp for the night.

Taylor was glad when Anya pulled the horse to a stop right beside Lexa. The commander had already dismounted in one fluid motion and the general followed her example only a blink later.

It seemed as if Lexa lingered beside Anya’s horse for a moment, before she could offer to help the blonde doctor still sitting on top of its back though, Anya had done so.

Taylor sighed under her breath. It seemed that it was not only her being attracted to both Anya and Lexa, but both of them appeared attracted to her as well. At least that’s what would explain the tension between the two. Jealousy. She sighed again when she looked into Anya’s deep brown eyes and detected worries there again.

“I am fine” she assured the general in a steady tone, giving her a smile.

“You are paler again” Anya said though, critically looking at the doctor’s complexion.

Taylor slightly shrugged with her shoulders. The pain in her stomach had intensified. “I will check the wound once the camp is set up” she exclaimed, gingerly putting a hand over the wound and pressing down a little. She immediately took her hand away though at the strong pain. Was it getting infected?

Anya nodded and motioned Taylor over to the place where a few warriors were in the process of starting a fire.

Skykru seemed to wait on the edge of the quickly being erected camp, obviously unsure on what to do.

Taylor looked over to them. She could even understand the Trikru’s doubt about them. They were really visibly completely different to the grounders. But so was she and the commander and general obviously did not look at her with the same distrust.

She sat down beside the fire when Anya gave her a slight push on her shoulder. Taylor’s brows furrowed though when the general did not join her and instead walked away.

“Anya will help shortly” Lexa suddenly appeared on Taylor’s other side, sitting down beside her silently.

Taylor whirled around quickly. She had not noticed Lexa’s approach. She smiled though when she looked into her green eyes.

“You can sleep in my tent later” Lexa offered under her breath, not looking at Taylor any longer but instead staring into the flames dancing in front of them, making crackling sounds on the wood it consumed.

Taylor was not sure if she imagining it or not in the low light around them, but it seemed as if the commander’s cheeks were tinted with a slight blush at her offer.

“Your body is weakened” Lexa added as if to justify her offer “There will be no other tents beside mine” she added even lower.

Taylor simply nodded her head in acceptance, feeling her stomach tingle in excited anticipation.

“Commander…” a warrior addressed the young leader from behind them, calling Lexa away from the fire for now.

Taylor watched her stand up and leave from the corner of her eyes, before she turned her attention back to the fire. So many things were going through her mind. Shortly ago she had tried to take her own life. Now, her life here suddenly had a purpose. If she remained alive here, she could potentially safe others. Things were getting more and more complicated though now as she was attracted to both, Lexa and Anya.

Her thoughts were interrupted once the general returned to her side. Unknown to Taylor, Anya had witnessed the exchange between the commander and the blonde doctor.

The general’s features were mostly falling into shadows when she spoke up “You feel for Lexa as well” her tone was low and Taylor had to strain her ears to even catch her words. They were not alone around the fire anymore, so, she obviously needed to speak carefully in case they were overheard.

Taylor turned her head towards the general, trying to decipher the other woman’s expression, but failing for now. Sadness suddenly clouded her mind “I am sorry…” she exclaimed honestly.

Anya shook her head though “We do not choose for whom our heart aches” she said simply “Life here is short. A relationship between three people is not uncommon here”.

Even though Taylor had expected Anya to be jealous or maybe even angry, the general’s tone was calm and she seemed to have already accepted the situation for how it was. She remained silent for a few moments, hoping that the other woman would already tell her how they could proceed now, but Anya remained mute as well.

“What can happen now though…” Taylor asked uncertainly, fidgeting around nervously with her fingers.

Anya’s brows furrowed together as if she was confused by the doctor’s question “We will work it out Yssa” she assured her.

Taylor chuckled slightly under her breath, honestly surprised by the easy reaction.

“There is only one problem” Anya added and there seemed to be a certain playfulness underlying her tone.

“And that would be?” Taylor asked expectedly, turning back fully to the general.

Anya’s brown eyes glittered when she answered with a smirk “Lexa and I both dislike to share.”


End file.
